Development and Psychometric Testing of the Clinical Leadership Needs Analysis (CLeeNA) Instrument for Nurses and Midwives

Aim: The aim of this study is to report the development and psychometric testing of the clinical leadership needs analysis instrument (CLeeNA).

Background: Limited emphasis is placed on the clinical leadership needs of nurses and midwives that are fundamental to supporting the delivery of high quality, safe patient care.

Methods: A development and validation study of CLeeNA was undertaken using cross-sectional data. A sample of 324 registered nurses and midwives completed the questionnaire using a 7-point adjectival scale. Principal component analysis was conducted to explore scale grouping of items (n = 103 items).

Results: Principal component analysis, item reduction and parallel analysis on the items of the instrument resulted in seven factors consisting of 56 items. These factors were identified as: Staff and Care Delivery; Technology and Care Initiatives; Self and Team Development; Standards of Care; Financial and Service Management; Leadership and Clinical Practice; Patient Safety and Risk Management.

Conclusion: The identified factors are reflective of an ever-changing health care environment.

Implications For Nursing Management: Potentially, after further testing, this instrument could be used by nursing management and educators to measure clinical leadership needs, inform the design of clinical leadership training programmes and provide valuable information about health care leadership development.