A comparison of new graduate and evaluator appraisals of nursing performance

The purpose of this longitudinal, descriptive study was to compare new graduate self-appraisals of nursing performance with those of their evaluators and provide information about the length of time new graduates practiced before they and their evaluators agreed about their level of performance. The panel of new graduates and their evaluators were surveyed 6 months and 1 year after graduation using a repeated measures design. The Six-Dimension Scale of Nursing Performance (Schwirian, 1978) operationalized nursing performance and a demographic data form was used to collect background information about both groups. Performance on the six dimensions was rated as satisfactory or above at both data collection periods. Both new graduates and their evaluators rated performance of professional development highest, IPR communication next, and teaching/collaboration last. Six months after graduation, the new graduates rated themselves significantly higher than their evaluators on all dimensions except critical care. At 1 year, evaluators rated new graduate performance higher on all subscales than at 6 months. A comparison of new graduates' responses indicated that new graduates evaluated themselves significantly higher at 1 year than at 6 months on the planning/evaluation subscale alone.