generalizability of the findings to other populations and
settings. This limitation is echoed by the fact that all four
independent raters are from the same faculty population.
Although there is no reason to suggest that rater reliability or
accuracy should vary by population or setting (the instrument
is restricted for use by technically competent raters such as
nursing faculty or clinical supervisors), the range, central
tendency, and variation reported for the MASAT would be
expected to differ when using a different scenario or clinical
setting and measuring a significantly higher or lower skilled
population than the student nurses volunteering for this study.
It is expected that the use of the MASAT in a clinical setting
with more experienced nurses may result in higher mean
performance. It is important to note that as a criterion referenced
measure assessing medication administration
safety, any MASAT score below 8 represents a rights error
and requires trainee remediation. Additional testing with
varied populations and settings is recommended.