The development of an evaluation tool for grading clinical competence

Exploring mentors' interpretation of terminology and levels of competence when assessing nursing students: An integrative review

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this integrative review is to evaluate the empirical and theoretical literature on the challenges mentors face in interpreting and assessing levels of competence of student nurses in clinical practice.

DESIGN

An integrative review of the literature.

DATA SOURCES

An extensive and systematic literature search was conducted covering the period 1986-September 2016 across twelve databases covering health and education related publications. Grey literature was searched from wide relevant sources.

REVIEW METHODS

Sources were eligible for review when they referred to mentor's interpretation or assessment of student nurses' level of competence in practice settings. Methodological rigor of the included studies was evaluated with the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.

RESULTS

After screening 1951 records by titles, abstracts and full text, 8 were selected for review. The methodological quality of the studies was moderate. The studies reported: Accurate and fair assessment of students is impeded by a lack of transparent and explicit criteria.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a need to establish a transparent and common language to distinguish between and facilitate interpretation of different levels of competence. Well-designed rubrics might offer the solution to the challenges faced in practice-based assessment and necessitates further research into their use.

Competence of newly-graduated nurses - a comparison of the perceptions of qualified nurses and students

AIM

This paper reports a study that compares opinions of final year nursing students, rating their own competence, with the opinions of experienced nurses on the competence of newly-graduated nurses.

BACKGROUND

The transition of nursing preparation into higher education is regarded as positive, although it has led to differences in opinion about the competence of newly-graduated nurses and their readiness to enter the nursing profession. There are studies showing that newly-graduated nurses perceive themselves as holistically focused, professional practitioners, while other nurses are concerned that newly-graduated nurses do not have necessary skills.

METHODS

A convenience sample of 106 nursing students in the final week of their course and 136 nurses who had experience of supervising nursing students completed a questionnaire. The data were collected in 2002.

RESULTS

Own competence, in the form of ability to perform nursing care, was rated by nursing students to be good or strongly developed in most of the investigated areas of nursing care. Experienced nurses also estimated newly-graduated nurses' competence to be good or strongly developed, although to a lesser extent. Nurses qualified within the previous 5 years rated newly-graduated nurses' competence to be higher in comparison with those with less recent education.

CONCLUSIONS

Further studies are needed to broaden our understanding of why some areas of nursing care, such as ethical awareness, were rated very highly, while others, like informing and teaching of co-workers and planning and prioritizing interventions had the lowest rating.

Grade Inflation: Should We Be Concerned?

Grade inflation is defined as an increase in grade point average without an associated increase in overall student ability. The literature supports the idea that grade inflation is rampant throughout higher education. Shoemaker and DeVos described the scope of the problem in higher education in general and note the lack of existing empirical information in nursing education. Given the perceived problem in faculties of nursing, the widespread nature of the issue of grade inflation across universities and colleges, and the lack of empirical data, understanding the nature of grade inflation is important. This article will discuss a study designed to investigate the extent to which grade inflation is an issue within a western Canadian faculty of nursing. Recommendations related to grade inflation are discussed.

Student nurses' perception of independence of supervision during clinical nursing practice

The purposes of this longitudinal study were to examine Swedish student nurses' perceptions of independence and to explore to what extent the students had had opportunities to practise different tasks during clinical practice. Data were collected on weekly self-assessment forms during the first and final clinical courses of a 3-year nursing programme for 60 and the remaining 48 students, respectively. The majority of the students rated themselves as being independent of supervision to a great extent both at the beginning and throughout the clinical courses. Some students reported no or few opportunities to practise certain tasks during both courses. Factors that may have influenced the students' perception of independence are discussed, such as preparation before the clinical courses and the importance students gave to certain tasks. Clinical practice should be carefully planned and individualized to facilitat students' opportunities to practise different tasks.

Grading student clinical practice performance: the Australian perspective

Educators have long considered assigning a grade in the assessment of student clinical practice performance as too variable, too subjective, or educationally inappropriate. Consequently, most undergraduate nurse education programs have maintained non-graded pass/fail criteria assessment for evaluating and reporting student clinical performance. This paper argues that, while the varied clinical environments do make assessing students' clinical performance difficult, the reliability and validity of assessment practices should be maintained no matter what the grading system. Furthermore, many assumptions about criterion-referenced assessment, and the associated preclusion of graded assessment, are seen to be baseless when dealing with competencies rather than with traditional behavioural objectives. By combining both criterion-referenced and norm-referenced assessment, graded assessment can clarify and impress on students the minimal competency requirements, while at the same time describing and rewarding meritorious practice. It is argued that to do so would provide a more appropriate way of communicating the assessment of theory application in praxis, a highly relevant issue in a practice-based discipline such as nursing. It is now appropriate to reconsider the debate of graded student clinical performance assessments, and to investigate both the practicalities and benefits of this approach.

ACMI competency standards for midwives--what they mean for your practice

The introduction of the Australian College of Midwives Inc (ACMI) Competency Standards for Midwives in late 1998, has implications for every midwife in Australia. This paper will provide a brief history of the development of nursing and midwifery competencies in Australia, examine what the competencies mean for practice and suggest ways that the competencies can be used for assessment. It is well to remember that the competencies must be considered in context and midwifery legislation and education form a triad for the implementation and use of the competencies.