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Putting portfolios in their place.
F T Gannon1, P R Draper, R Watson
1School of Nursing, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK.
Nurse Education Today
|September 18, 2001
Summary
Portfolios in nursing education are explored to address challenges in assessing clinical competence. Further research is needed to confirm their reliability and validity as assessment tools for nurses.
Area of Science:
- Nursing Education
- Healthcare Assessment
- Clinical Competence Evaluation
Background:
- Assessing clinical competence in practice settings presents inherent challenges.
- Recent policy documents acknowledge the difficulties in evaluating nursing skills.
- Portfolios offer a potential method for assessing clinical competence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To discuss the use of portfolios in nursing education within an international context.
- To evaluate the role of portfolios in addressing problematic clinical competence assessment.
- To examine theoretical approaches to portfolio definition and utilization.
Main Methods:
- Review of theoretical frameworks for portfolio assessment.
- Analysis of the reliability and validity of portfolios as assessment tools.
- International contextualization of portfolio use in nursing education.
Main Results:
- Portfolios are discussed as a tool for assessing nursing clinical competence.
- Theoretical approaches to portfolio use are evaluated.
- Concerns regarding the reliability and validity of portfolios are highlighted.
Conclusions:
- The assessment of clinical competence in nursing practice is problematic.
- Portfolios have a potential role in addressing these assessment challenges.
- Further research is essential to establish the credibility, reliability, and validity of portfolios for assessing nurse competence.