Assessing student nurse clinical competency: will we ever get it right?

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Assessment
• Clinical Competency Evaluation

Background:

• A revised system for assessing student nurse clinical competency was implemented at the University of Glamorgan in 1997.
• This revision addressed concerns regarding limited documentary evidence in the prior system and new competency statements from the Welsh National Board for Nursing and Midwifery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the revised student nurse clinical competency assessment system.
• To identify challenges and areas for improvement in the implementation of the new assessment process.

Main Methods:

• Focus groups were conducted with students, tutors, and clinical preceptors to gather experiences with the revised system.
• Content analysis of student-written evidence was performed to assess consistency and identify variations in documentation.

Main Results:

• Focus groups revealed initial problems and a general lack of consistency and uncertainty in the assessment process across all participant groups.
• While the inclusion of written evidence was positive, participants felt the volume of required evidence was excessive.
• Content analysis showed significant variations in the amount and nature of evidence submitted by students, indicating inconsistencies.

Conclusions:

• The revised clinical competency assessment system requires further revisions to ensure effective implementation and address identified inconsistencies.
• Competency-based assessment is a permanent feature in UK nursing education, underscoring the importance of ongoing evaluative research for optimal approaches.