Legal implications of evaluation procedures for students in healthcare professions

Evaluation of students is an integral part of teaching and instruction. Evaluations take on added dimensions when students are enrolled in healthcare training programs, such as nurse anesthesia. Not only must students master a body of knowledge, but they also must be able to integrate, process, and apply this knowledge appropriately in a clinical setting on a human patient. Thus, societal and legal issues enter into the training and credentialing of a healthcare practitioner. Conversely, today's students are more aware of their rights and freedoms and are more willing to appeal to the legal system for satisfaction of their grievances. Thus, evaluation must meet many needs; most important, evaluation must be fair and objective for society, school, and the student. In order to develop and implement a just evaluation system, instructors and administrators should be cognizant of the legal parameters and ramifications of evaluation processes.