Facilitating student performance conversations: A framework for success

Nurse educators are considered the gatekeepers of the profession. They teach students the skills and values needed for their role and prepare them to be competent, ethical beginner nurses. Evaluation of these growing skills begins in the first term and continues through their four-year journey. An important skill for nurse educators is facilitating performance conversations with students who are not meeting curricula requirements. This can be challenging as many barriers exist to impede this required feedback. A literature review revealed consistent barriers to effective performance conversations and suggested methods/tools to help overcome these barriers. A Performance Conversation Concept Map was developed, based on findings in the literature, and is presented to illustrate intrinsic and extrinsic barriers, supportive tools/methods, and potential outcomes that may result from successful performance conversations. This analytical paper evaluates what the literature revealed and describes how the elements of the concept map can be used as a framework to support new educator competency during performance conversations.