Aim

The aim of this study is to develop and psychometrically test the Feeling Safe During Surgery Scale.

Design

The study design was non-experimental and cross-sectional.

Method

The evaluation followed classical test theory, and the instrument was evaluated regarding reliability, construct validity and content validity. For the reliability analysis, a postal questionnaire consisting of the 16 items of the scale was dispatched in March 2020 to a consecutive sample (N = 242) of patients who had undergone hip or knee replacement arthroplasties with regional anaesthesia. Five experts in nursing care evaluated the content validity of the scale.

Result

Internal consistency was 0.841. Three items were excluded due to deficits in reliability, resulting in a 13-item scale. A principal component analysis revealed a two-dimensional solution, labelled internal and external aspects of feeling safe. Two items were rephrased to improve clarity and content validity. The average content validity for the scale was 0.88, indicating acceptable content validity.