The Italian validation of the Watson Caritas Co-Worker Score for nurses and health care professionals

Purpose: To translate, adapt, and validate the Watson Caritas Co-Worker Score in Italian. Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 182 nurses and healthcare professionals. Methods: Content Validity and construct validity, with Cronbach's alpha (α) and test-retest Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICCs), were calculated to assess validity and reliability. Findings: The Watson Caritas Co-Worker Score - Italian retained the one-factor structure comprising five items, consistent with the original instrument. It demonstrated strong internal consistency (α = 0.91) and high test-retest reliability (ICCs ≥ 0.84). The scale CVI suggests good content validity. Conclusions: The WCCW-I exhibited good psychometric properties, supporting its use in nursing practice and research to evaluate and promote caring behaviors and humanization among nurses and healthcare professionals. Implications for the profession and/or patient care: The WCCW-I may help healthcare professionals and organizations assess and promote caring behaviors in the workplace. In clinical practice, it can be used to foster compassionate environments by identifying relational strengths and vulnerabilities among co-workers, particularly in high-pressure settings. For nursing leadership, the tool offers a practical means of evaluating team dynamics and designing targeted interventions to reinforce mutual respect, empathy, and collaboration. By enhancing the quality of professional relationships, the WCCW-I contributes to the humanization of care and the well-being of both caregivers and patients. Impact: What problem did the study address? This study addressed the lack of validated instruments in Italian to assess caring behaviors among healthcare professionals, particularly in co-worker interactions, an area critical for promoting compassionate and humanized care environments. What were the main findings? The WCCW-I demonstrated strong psychometric properties, including a clear unidimensional structure, excellent internal consistency (α = 0.91), and high test-retest reliability (ICCs ≥ 0.84). The tool retained the original conceptual framework and was found to be culturally appropriate for the Italian context. WHERE AND ON WHOM WILL THE RESEARCH HAVE AN IMPACT?: This research will impact clinical practice, nursing education, and healthcare management in Italy by providing a theoretically grounded and empirically validated tool to assess and improve caring relationships among healthcare teams. It may also influence international efforts to measure caring behaviors cross-culturally. Reporting method: This study was conducted and reported in accordance with the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) guidelines for observational research. Patient or public contribution: No patient or public contribution.