J Nurs Manag. 2018;1–7. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jonm | 1 © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1 | INTRODUCTION Managing the nursing workforce efficiently is a major challenge for nurse executives and hospital managers because optimal use of nurses’ time and skills is essential to control costs. Moreover, nurses working beyond their scope of practice has become a widespread concern leading to job dissatisfaction, lack of motivation, and work‐ force instability (D’Amour et al., 2012). Nurses working beyond their scope of practice affects patient outcomes as well as hospital costs (Bruser & Whittaker, 1998; Déry, D’Amour, Blais, & Clarke, 2015; Lubbe & Roets, 2014). Accordingly, nurse managers need valid and reliable information for workforce planning and efficient deploy‐ ment of the nursing workforce. Despite the importance of the scope of nursing practice, instru‐ ments measuring the scope and complexity of nursing practice are relatively recent. D’Amour et al. (2012) developed the first Actual Scope of Nursing Practice (ASCOP) Questionnaire in French and have published an English version. The questionnaire was developed Received: 23 August 2017 | Revised: 18 January 2018 | Accepted: 26 February 2018 DOI: 10.1111/jonm.12635 ORIGINAL ARTICLE The first Arabic version of the Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Scale: Psychometric evaluation Souha Fares | Michael Clinton | Lina Younan Hariri School of Nursing, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon Correspondence Souha Fares, Hariri School of Nursing, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon. Email: sf31@aub.edu.lb Funding information The study was funded by a seed grant at the Hariri School of Nursing. Abstract Aim: We examined the validity and reliability of nursing activity levels of complexity in the first Arabic version of the Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Questionnaire. Background: Nurse executives need valid and reliable data on the scope and com‐ plexity of nursing practice to make decisions about cost‐effective and safe deploy‐ ment of the nursing workforce. We translated the English version of the Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Questionnaire into Arabic for use in Lebanon and the eastern Mediterranean region. Methods: Data were collected from a national sample of bedside nurses in Lebanon in which 3,157 questionnaires were returned for analysis. We used multidimensional scaling, hierarchical cluster analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis to examine the Arabic Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Questionnaire levels of nursing complexity. Results: Multidimensional scaling analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis confirmed the unidimensionality of the Arabic Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analysis produced essentially the same fit statistics for the uni‐ dimensional model and three‐dimensional models of item complexity. Conclusion: The Arabic Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Questionnaire is a valid and reliable unidimensional measure of nursing complexity. Implication for Nursing Management: Nurse executives and hospital managers in Lebanon and the eastern Mediterranean region can use total and mean Arabic Actual Scope of Nursing Practice Questionnaire scores as aids when making decisions about nursing workforce deployment. KEYWORDS confirmatory factor analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, Lebanon, multidimensional scaling, scope of practice