Exploring factors that influence students’ attitudes toward midwifery in Jordan: Measuring psychometric properties of a newly developed tool

Exploring factors that influence students’ attitudes toward midwifery inJordan: Measuring psychometric properties of a newly developed toolLourance A. Al Hadida,∗, Omaymah Al-Rajabib, Marwa AlBarmawic,Najah Sayyah Yousef Sayyahc, Lwiza Moh'd ToqandaAl Hussein Bin Talal University, Aisha Bint Al Hussein College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Nursing Department, PO Box 20, Ma'an, Jordanb Rufaidah Al-Aslamiah College for Nursing and Midwifery, Ministry of Health Amman, JordancClinical Department, Al Zaytoonah University (ZUJ), Faculty of Nursing, Amman, Jordand MOH-Rufaida Al-Aslamiah College for Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions, P.O.BOX 491, Amman 11118, JordanARTICLE INFOKeywords:MidwiferyStudentsMotivationDe-motivationJordanABSTRACTStudents' professional choice to proceed in midwifery is influenced by many factors. This study validated aninstrument developed to assess students' attitudes toward midwifery in Jordan. It also addressed the motivatingand de-motivating factors influencing students' decision concerning joining and continuing in midwifery. Adescriptive, cross-section study was conducted on a convenience sample of 374 midwifery students representingprivate, governmental, and military midwifery colleges. The researchers developed the study questionnairethrough conducting a comprehensive literature review, organizing common themes and consulting experts.Exploratory factor analysis and tests of normality and reliability, including Cronbach's Alpha and Bartlett's test,were used in the analysis. The result was three factors were explained by 23 items. They were as follows:professional knowledge, professional motivation factors, and de-motivating professional factors. The first 8 itemsexplained nearly 61% of the variance. Cronbach's Alpha was 0.834 with a range of 0.835–0.839. The SpearmanBrowncoefficient was 0.81 and Guttman Split-Half coefficient was 0.83. Issues of reliability and validity requirea repetitive process of testing under a range of circumstances to ensure both stability and representation of theconstruct. However, addressing factors found to have impact of students' decisions is crucial to improve retentionof high quality students.

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