Clinical evaluation and grading practices in schools of nursing: national survey findings part II

To better understand how nurse educators evaluate and grade students' clinical practice, the Evaluation of Learning Advisory Council of the National League for Nursing conducted a survey of faculty (N = 1,573) in all types of prelicensure RN programs. This article describes the findings of that survey in relation to clinical evaluation and grading clinical practice. Nearly all faculty used a clinical evaluation tool to rate students' performance in the clinical setting (n = 1,534, 98 percent); most programs had the same basic tool in all courses, but modified to reflect the unique aspects of each course (n = 1,095, 70 percent). Faculty (n = 1,116, 83 percent) reported using pass/fail for grading in clinical courses rather than a letter or numerical grade.