Translation and National clinical validation of the Nursing Management Minimum Data Set (NMMDS) in hospitals in the country of Iceland

Rising health care costs place increased burden on patients, health care personnel, administrators and policymakers. Decisions in health care are influenced by data which can be transferred into valuable information and knowledge. Data sets that facilitate data collection, information management and knowledge building are needed by nurse managers to support administrative decision- making. The Nursing Management Minimum Data Set (NMMDS,,¦) offers a standardized method to capture core data that can be collected in information systems, shared and reused for multiple purposes to support safe and cost-effective care.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to adapt to Iceland and clinically test the NMMDS-ICE in all adult inpatient care units in the country of Iceland (excluding psychiatry). The aims of the study were to 1) translate the NMMDS from source language (English) to target language (Icelandic); 2) to validate the translated instrument; and 3) to describe the environment, nursing care resources, and financial resources across acute adult inpatient care units in Iceland.

Instrument development consisted of translation, expert validation, and psychometric testing. The target population was all adult acute care units in hospitals in Iceland, and the nurse managers (n=38) representing these units. Data collection included a mailed survey. The sample equaled the population. Furthermore, 134 staff nurses on these units (excluding staff nurses at Landspitali) completed a job satisfaction survey. Return rate was 74% for nurse managers and 71% for staff nurses.

Semantic and content equivalence of the NMMDS-ICE was established. Five of seven subscales of the instrument received Cronbach¡¦s alpha score of 0.70 or higher. Results indicated that it was feasible to collect the NMMDS-ICE in hospitals in Iceland, albeit, there was an issue with time commitment to do so. The specialty services that best described the patient population were medical-, surgical services, birthing, and geriatrics. Furthermore, nurse managers seem to perceive good control on their units, and both nurse managers and staff nurses are satisfied with their job. A positive correlation was found between autonomy and satisfaction with nursing management, nursing administration, and own level of autonomy. Statistical differences were identified in environmental and staffing resources between hospitals.