BACKGROUND: There is a need for an easy-to-use measure of meaningful and important inpatient psychiatric treatment. METHOD: This is a clinical translation of a research article by Delaney and colleagues (this issue of JAPNA) that describes the development and testing of a new measure called the Combined Assessment of Psychiatric Environments (CAPE). The measure was tested with patients and staff on six different inpatient psychiatric units. RESULTS: The staff and patient versions of the CAPE were shown to be valid (accurate measure of safe, patient-centered care) and reliable (precise measure that shows stability over time). CONCLUSION: The CAPE is a new measure that can be used to examine staff and patient experiences of nursing practice on inpatient psychiatric units.
