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Using Learning Outcome Measures to assess Doctoral Nursing Education
Published on: June 21, 2010
Psychometric Testing of a Theory-Based Measure to Evaluate Clinical Performance of Nursing Students
Mohamed El Hussein1, Matthew McLarnon, Olive Fast
1About the Authors Mohamed El Hussein, PhD, NP, RN, is a professor, Mount Royal University; adjunct professor, University of Calgary; and a nurse practitioner, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta Canada. Matthew McLarnon, PhD, is an assistant professor, Mount Royal University. Olive Fast, PhD, RN, is an associate professor, Mount Royal University. For more information, contact Dr. El Hussein at melhussein@mtroyal.ca.
Aim:
The aim of this study was to psychometrically test a clinical evaluation tool that measures instructors' gut feelings for placing students on a learning contract.
Background:
Evaluators feel unprepared or hesitant to fail students who do not meet professional and clinical expectations.
Method:
A multiphase process was used to determine the reliability and validity of the Gut Feelings Scale. The first phase focused on item generation, the second phase focused on content validity and feedback from expert raters, and the third phase focused on psychometric evaluation to streamline the item pool and explore validity.
Results:
Correlations and descriptive statistics for each subscale were calculated. Reliability analyses revealed relatively strong estimates of internal consistency; specifically, the reliability estimates surpassed our criteria of >.70.
Conclusion:
This pilot study established the validity and reliability of the scale and found it to be a reliable tool to guide instructors' evaluative decision-making.
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