Abstract Aims To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Perceived Implicit Rationing of Nursing Care (PIRNCA) instrument and to report the prevalence of rationed care at university and faculty hospitals. Design A cross‐sectional study. Methods The study was carried out at two university and five faculty hospitals in the Slovak Republic. Participants were 895 Registered Nurses recruited by the purposive sampling method between December 2017–July 2018. Data were collected using the PIRNCA instrument. Construct validity and reliability of the instrument were tested. Results The prevalence of rationed care at university and faculty hospitals was identified as being 42.1%. Furthermore, 87.6% of nurses reported rationing one or more nursing care activities. Using both statistical methods when evaluating the PIRNCA resulted in the confirmation that the tool is valid and reliable. Conclusion Rationed care is a common phenomenon at university and faculty hospitals. The PIRNCA is a suitable instrument to measure the phenomenon in adult acute care units because of its high reliability and validity. We recommend using the instrument in different contexts, not only for specific conditions that were presented for this study. Impact Rationed care at university and faculty hospitals has never been reported. Psychometric properties of the instrument that measures nurses´ perception of rationed care have never been evaluated by using different approaches. The most frequently rationed nursing care activities are those that nurses are competent to initiate on the basis of their knowledge and skills – the independent ones. The PIRNCA is a valid and reliable instrument. Hospital management can use the instrument to explore the prevalence of rationed care, followed by the application of prevention strategies. Our findings represent the base for further exploration of rationed care using the PIRNCA.