Using Clinical Narratives in Program and Curriculum Evaluation

Using personal experience stories as teaching tools, clinical narratives are an effective means for sharing the art of nursing practice and provide insight into nurses' critical thinking and clinical proficiency. Using clinical narratives to assess curriculum effectiveness provides important insights into changed practice and learning beyond the classroom.

This article provides an example of using clinical narratives in the evaluation of the Department of Veterans Health Affairs Office of Nursing Services (ONS) Evidence Based Practice Curriculum (EBPC).

As part of a larger mixed-method evaluation of the EBPC, clinical narrative methods were employed to describe one incident where participants (n=3) applied at least two of three evidence based practice components (best available evidence; clinical expertise; patient preference).

Examination of clinical narratives demonstrated successful application of key components of evidence based practice and an integration into individual nursing practice beyond data obtained from other evaluation methods.

Incorporating rich clinical narratives into a rigorous mixed-method program evaluation protocol provides insights beyond information uptake, satisfaction, efficacy, or competency assessment scores.