Assessing professional ethics in midwifery educators: development and validation of a specialized instrument
4 affiliations
- 1Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
- 2Research Center for Nursing and Midwifery Care, Comprehensive Research Institutes for Maternal and Child Health, Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
- 3Department of Midwifery, School of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
- 4Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
Abstract
Background: Assessing the professional ethics of midwifery educators is crucial for ensuring high-quality education and patient care. However, a comprehensive and validated instrument specific to this context is lacking, despite the unique ethical demands of their dual role in academia and clinical practice.
Aim: To develop and psychometrically validate a comprehensive, context-specific instrument to assess professional ethics among midwifery educators.
Design: A sequential mixed-methods design.
Method: A sequential mixed-methods study was conducted across midwifery education settings in three phases. Item generation involved a literature synthesis and consultations with five midwifery faculty members, yielding an initial pool of 67 items. Content validity was assessed by panels of midwifery experts and students (n = 20) using the Content Validity Ratio (CVR), with a critical value of ≥ 0.62 for item retention; this process resulted in the removal of 10 items, leaving 57 items for psychometric testing. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed with 200 students, leading to the removal of 2 items and the identification of a six-domain structure. Following reliability analysis, an additional 3 items were omitted. The final 52-item instrument demonstrates strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.94) and excellent test–retest reliability (ICC = 0.97), and requires 10–15 min to complete.
Results: A total of 225 participants were included across the phases (response rate: 100%). The qualitative phase identified four core categories and twelve sub-categories. Following content validation, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the 57-item version led to the removal of 2 items and supported a robust six-factor structure. The final instrument comprises 52 items. The scale demonstrated excellent sampling adequacy (KMO = 0.978), strong internal consistency (α = 0.94), and high test–retest reliability (ICC = 0.97).
Conclusion: This study provides a preliminary 52-item instrument with strong initial psychometric properties for assessing professional ethics in midwifery educators. It serves as a sound tool for evaluation and faculty development, aiming to enhance ethical competencies. Further studies are needed to establish other psychometric properties, such as discriminant and cross-cultural validity.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-09572-2.
Related
- Editorial: Measuring vaccination perception, confidence, and uptake: advancing instrument development and validation
- Development and Validation of the Food Expectation Questionnaire (FEX‐Q): An Image‐Based Instrument to Assess Food‐Related Perceptions and Symptom Expectations
- Development and Psychometric Validation of a Multidimensional Questionnaire for Assessing Interpersonal Social Health
- Development and validation of a task for assessing help-seeker relational dynamics.
- Development and preliminary validation of the OMFS-PATH questionnaire assessing medical and dental students’ perceptions of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery as a career
BibTeX
@article{adibzadeh2026assessing,
title = {{Assessing professional ethics in midwifery educators: development and validation of a specialized instrument}},
author = {Atieh Adibzadeh and Tahmineh Farajkhoda and Mahsa Khoshnam rad and Mitra Rahimzadeh and Razieh Lotfi},
journal = {BMC Medical Education},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1186/s12909-026-09572-2},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-09572-2},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Assessing professional ethics in midwifery educators: development and validation of a specialized instrument
AU - Atieh Adibzadeh
AU - Tahmineh Farajkhoda
AU - Mahsa Khoshnam rad
AU - Mitra Rahimzadeh
AU - Razieh Lotfi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/04
JO - BMC Medical Education
DO - 10.1186/s12909-026-09572-2
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-09572-2
AB - Background: Assessing the professional ethics of midwifery educators is crucial for ensuring high-quality education and patient care. However, a comprehensive and validated instrument specific to this context is lacking, despite the unique ethical demands of their dual role in academia and clinical practice. Aim: To develop and psychometrically validate a comprehensive, context-specific instrument to assess professional ethics among midwifery educators. Design: A sequential mixed-methods design. Method: A sequential mixed-methods study was conducted across midwifery education settings in three phases. Item generation involved a literature synthesis and consultations with five midwifery faculty members, yielding an initial pool of 67 items. Content validity was assessed by panels of midwifery experts and students (n = 20) using the Content Validity Ratio (CVR), with a critical value of ≥ 0.62 for item retention; this process resulted in the removal of 10 items, leaving 57 items for psychometric testing. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed with 200 students, leading to the removal of 2 items and the identification of a six-domain structure. Following reliability analysis, an additional 3 items were omitted. The final 52-item instrument demonstrates strong internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.94) and excellent test–retest reliability (ICC = 0.97), and requires 10–15 min to complete. Results: A total of 225 participants were included across the phases (response rate: 100%). The qualitative phase identified four core categories and twelve sub-categories. Following content validation, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the 57-item version led to the removal of 2 items and supported a robust six-factor structure. The final instrument comprises 52 items. The scale demonstrated excellent sampling adequacy (KMO = 0.978), strong internal consistency (α = 0.94), and high test–retest reliability (ICC = 0.97). Conclusion: This study provides a preliminary 52-item instrument with strong initial psychometric properties for assessing professional ethics in midwifery educators. It serves as a sound tool for evaluation and faculty development, aiming to enhance ethical competencies. Further studies are needed to establish other psychometric properties, such as discriminant and cross-cultural validity. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-09572-2.
SN - 1472-6920
ER -