Development and initial validation of a theory of planned behaviour questionnaire to assess the nursing students' Intention to be self-employed

Background: Self-employment represents a new work opportunity for new nursing graduates; however, little is known about nursing students’ Intention to meet this new demand from the labour market. Aims: To develop a theory-driven questionnaire to assess students’ Intentions for self-employment and psychometrically test this scale. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted investigating 344 nursing students in their final year in an Italian university. The content, face, construct, convergent and discriminant validity, and reliability were evaluated. We also tested the theory of planned behaviour. Results: The Planned Self-Employment Scale demonstrated satisfactory validity and good reliability. A moderate Intention to be self-employed emerged among nurses (3.6 ± 1.5 out of 7). This level of Intention was predicted by the Attitudes and Perceived Behaviour Control dimensions. Conclusion: The Planned Self-Employment Scale exhibited good validity and reliability and can thus be used with nursing students. Implications for Nursing Management: Educators need to design a curriculum to improve students’ decision-making and autonomy. At the central level, there is a need to produce guidelines that offer guidance to both nurses and patients, as well as the system as a whole with regard to this new form of nursing service.