Objective: To develop and test an evidence-based scale to assess nurses' knowledge of stroke.
Design: Question development by a multidisciplinary group of experts in stroke. Two self-completion questionnaire surveys.
Setting: Two stroke units, one general medical and two elderly care wards in three hospitals in the North-East of England.
Subjects: Fifty-eight qualified nurses.
Interventions: Scale to assess nurses' knowledge of stroke.
Results: The overall response rate was 60%. Nurses on stroke units knew more about stroke than those in medical/elderly care wards. The scale was capable of discriminating between stroke units and medical /elderly care wards: mean difference was 4.18 (95% confidence intervals 1.68–6.69; p <0.001). Cronbach's α was 0.7 indicating adequate internal consistency. Item non-response did not exceed 10% for any question.
Conclusions: We have developed a knowledge of stroke scale capable of discriminating between nurses based in stroke units and medical/elderly care wards, with low item non-response and adequate internal consistency. The scale is suitable for use as a component of studies evaluating the nursing of stroke patients.
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