The Conceptualization and Measurement of Individualized Care

Abstract

Individualized nursing care, a form of person-centered care delivery, is accepted as best practice, yet its implementation into actual care is far from complete. Appropriate measures of this elusive concept are needed to better understand barriers to implementation. This study explored and tested the convergent validity and the reliability of 2 individualized nursing care measures. A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data using the Individualized Care Scale and the Individualized Care Instrument (ICI) from a sample of nurses (n = 263, response rate 71%) working in older peoples' care settings in Finland, and the data were analyzed statistically. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the ICI scales (.63–.80) and ICS-A and B subscales (both α = .91) demonstrated only moderate correlation between the 2 instruments (r = –.39 to .50) and possibly the complexity of measuring “individualized care.” The study acknowledges the latent influence of culture and care approach to the conceptualization of individuality. It concludes that the concept may best be measured at this point with the use of other factors in addition to instruments to capture its multiple domains