How to make clinical and classroom evaluation in nursing effective: Content analysis

Abstract

Evaluation is the heart of any educational program. In nursing education, ensuring the competence of nursing graduates is of particular importance. The main objective of this study was to investigate teacher nurses' experience about student evaluations in clinical settings and classrooms. The experiences of 28 educators were collected until data saturation through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using content analysis method. The constant comparison method was used in order to perform qualitative analysis. Accuracy and consistency of the study was obtained with regard to the four axes of real value, applicability, continuity, and fact-based. During the data analysis, three main themes emerged: effectiveness of the implementation process, feedback efficiency, and collaborative evaluation. Findings reveal a gap between what Iranian nursing teachers understand as being a fair and equitable efficient evaluation and what they have experienced during their careers. We discovered that accuracy evaluation has the potential play a critical role in changing traditionally taught nursing education programs and increasing student’s confidence regarding their impact on patient care outcomes. In conclusion, findings suggest that collaborative evaluation can affect the professional competency of students before they enter a clinical setting; by attention to influence of teachers on the nursing profession through the preparation of its practitioners. The implications of such findings are of concern for the ongoing credibility and integrity of student evaluation.

Keywords: Understanding experiences, nursing educators, evaluation process, clinical setting, content analysis, qualitative study.