What should be measured? Nursing education institutions performance: a qualitative study

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Higher Education Performance Measurement

Background:

• Nursing education institutions require robust performance evaluation.
• Students are key stakeholders whose perspectives are vital for assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify critical domains for evaluating nursing education institutions from students' perspectives.
• To establish a foundation for developing performance indicators based on stakeholder needs.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study employing focus groups with nursing students (bachelor's, master's, Ph.D.).
• Convenience sampling used for participant selection (n=27).

Main Results:

• Thirteen performance categories emerged, aligned with the Donabedian model's structure, process, and outcome components.
• Structure: learning fields, equipment, human resources. Process: workshops, rule familiarity, teaching quality, student/peer evaluations. Outcomes: self-evaluation, graduate/student performance, facility performance.

Conclusions:

• Student insights are essential for defining measurable performance indicators in nursing education.
• Future development of performance indicators should be guided by these identified student-centric domains.