Development of a comprehensive clinical performance assessment system for nursing students: A programmatic approach

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Assessment
• Clinical Performance Evaluation

Background:

• Effective evaluation of nursing student learning objectives is crucial.
• Traditional individual assessment methods may be insufficient.
• A programmatic approach offers a comprehensive alternative for evaluating critical care nursing students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a comprehensive assessment system for nursing students during their critical care rotation.
• To implement a programmatic approach to student assessment in critical care nursing education.

Main Methods:

• Defined critical care nursing course learning objectives using an expert panel.
• Classified objectives into three categories and identified suitable assessment methods.
• Designed assessment tools, establishing content validity (CVR, CVI) and reliability (Cronbach's alpha).
• Assessed participant satisfaction via questionnaire.

Main Results:

• Assessment system demonstrated high content validity (CVR, CVI 0.93-0.97).
• High reliability was confirmed (overall alpha > 0.90; subsystems 0.72-0.96).
• Significant positive impact on learning reported by 87.5% of instructors and 89.47% of students.
• High participant satisfaction with the new system.

Conclusions:

• A programmatic assessment approach is recommended for evaluating nursing students' clinical performance in critical care.
• The developed system offers high validity, reliability, multidimensionality, and positive educational impact.
• The system is acceptable to both students and instructors, enhancing the learning experience.