Evaluation of the reliability and validity of nursing outcomes classification patient outcomes and measures

One hundred sixty-nine of the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC) patient outcomes were tested for interrater reliability, criterion validity, and sensitivity. In 10 field sites, ranging from hospitals to home care, pairs of nurses rated the outcome measures for 5 to 130 patients. Inter-class correlations were greater than or equal to 0.70 for 63 outcomes. Pearson's correlations with criterion measures were greater than or equal to 0.60 for 40 outcomes and from 0.39 to 0.60 for 43 additional ones. Change scores for 99 outcomes ranged from 0 to 2.0 from first to second and second to third rating. Most NOC measures demonstrated good inter-rater reliability, substantial criterion validity, and sensitivity to change. More testing and thorough training of nurses using NOC outcomes are needed.