Delphi Study Builds Nurse Employee Assistance Evaluation Framework

A two-round Delphi study developed and expert-weighted a proposed index system for evaluating the effectiveness of employee assistance programs for nurses. The resulting framework is organized around the Context, Input, Process and Product model, known as CIPP, and contains four first-level indices, 12 second-level indices and 50 third-level indicators. The work addresses program assessment rather than demonstrating that employee assistance programs directly improve nurses’ physical or mental health.

Researchers began with a literature review and brainstorming to draft a preliminary evaluation system for nurse employee assistance programs, or EAPs. They then conducted two rounds of Delphi consultation with 18 experts from three provinces. In each round, the experts assessed the proposed indices and provided feedback used to refine the system.

This expert-consultation process produced the final hierarchy of four broad evaluation areas: context, input, process and product. The reported expert positive coefficient was 100% in both rounds of consultation. Expert authority coefficients were 0.834 in the first round and 0.906 in the second.

Kendall’s W coefficients were 0.169 for round one and 0.100 for round two, with both reported as statistically significant at P < 0.05. These results describe characteristics of the Delphi consultation and its consistency, rather than the clinical effects of an EAP. After the consultation, the researchers used the Analytic Hierarchy Process to assign weights to indices at every level of the completed system.

The source identifies the four first-level indices as evaluations of context, input, process and product, while the lower levels divide these areas into 12 second-level indices and 50 specific third-level indicators. The authors concluded that the index system demonstrates a degree of scientific rigor and reliability and can provide a reference basis for implementing, managing and improving nurse EAPs. Its intended scope is evaluation of program effectiveness, but the reported study was a methodological Delphi study rather than a test of EAP outcomes in nurses.

The framework is therefore best understood as an expert-informed measurement proposal that has been refined and weighted through consultation, not as evidence that applying it will improve organizational decisions or health outcomes.

Subject of Research: Development of an expert-weighted evaluation index system for nurse employee assistance programs.

Article Title: Construction of an effectiveness evaluation index system for nurse employee assistance program based on the CIPP model: a Delphi study

Article References: Fan, X., Zhuang, J., Yang, N., Xiong, Z., Chen, Z., Xu, P., Chen, L., Wang, H., & Huang, H. (2026). Construction of an effectiveness evaluation index system for nurse employee assistance program based on the CIPP model: a Delphi study. BMC Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-026-05161-2

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12912-026-05161-2

Keywords: nurses, employee assistance programs, Delphi study, program evaluation, CIPP model, Analytic Hierarchy Process, health services research, index system, Construction, effectiveness, evaluation, index