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Abstract Introduction: Performance appraisal is an essential process in health care organizations to ensure that the quality of care goal is met. The aim of this study was to determine the most important dimensions of performance appraisal from the perspective of nursing researchers. Materials and Methods: In this review study, the published articles from 2002–2012 were assessed. In order to achieve related evidences, electronic search was done in both English and Persian language by using the key words appraisal, nurse, assessment, evaluation in the following databases: Magiran, SID, IranMedex, PubMed, Science Direct, InterScienc, Ovid, ProQuest and Google. Findings: Search results in multiple sites covering 10 Persian articles on nurses’ performance appraisal in the last 10 years in Iran. There was not found any related article in English language. 5 studies (50%), mainly considered the following topics: relationship between performance appraisal and variables such as job satisfaction, job motivation, job rotation and managers’ education. 5 (50%) of the studies were conducted in Tehran, 2 of them (20%) were quasi experimental and 8 studies were quantitative study. Conclusion: Performance appraisal is associated with job satisfaction, motivation and identification of nurses’ training needs. Objectives in appraisal, appropriate implementation and training can play a significant role in the success of this system.

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Introduction: One of the most important characteristic of a successful performance appraisal system is its acceptability to employees. Therefore, it is necessary to use a reliable and valid tool that can specifically measure employees' attitudes towards performance appraisal.The current study aimed at developing and psychometrically evaluating an instrument to assess health workers attitudes towards annual performance appraisal.
Methods: In the current methodological study, after reviewing the existing literature on employees performance appraisal, an initial instrument containing 43 items was developed. The content validity index and content validity ratio were measured using the opinions of 10 faculty members, in the department of health service management at medical sciences universities, as well as health workers. Construct validity was measured by the exploratory factor analysis on a sample of 185 health workers of Hamedan District Health Center. Reliability of the instrument was measured by Cronbach's alpha and test-retest methods in 2-week intervals by 15 employees. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 16.
Results: After assessing the content validity, the initial 43 items were reduced to 33 items. Exploratory factor analysis identified 6 factors: performance feedback, performance measurement, organizational contexts, training and employees’ development, performance criteria, and using the results of the appraisal. The first 2 factors were the most important dimensions of annual performance appraisal in the view of employees, explaining 25.5% of total variance. Cronbach's alpha coefficients and test-retest correlation coefficient were 0.95 and 0.93, respectively.
Conclusions: The resulting 33-item instrument showed acceptable psychometric properties to assess the attitude of health workers towards annual performance appraisal process; it can be used to assess and improve the various dimensions of employee performance appraisal.