Revamping the peer review process

The time has come for peers to establish criteria to evaluate each other. No longer can this vital activity be left to the students alone. This is not to say that student evaluation has no place but rather to identify the need for peer review based on mutually determined and acceptable criteria. With the change to an integrated curriculum, in which there is emphasis on team work in both planning and execution of the program, the need for a tool to document areas previously considered to be too subjective becomes obvious. Faculty must be able to collaborate, cooperate, communicate, and be mutually supportive to each other in order to affect a successful operation of the program. Some faculty feel that these behaviors are an inherent part of being responsible, accountable and professional, and therefore do not need to be measured. Yet these are the same behaviors that we stress repeatedly and measure with students. We believe that our tool provides nurse educators with a method of peer evaluation that is both equitable and easy to use. We believe that it will also help the faculty member determine his or her goals based on an evaluation process that is broader as a result of input from three levels: students, peers, and self. Lastly, we believe that this tool meets the needs of the Peer Review Committee by providing valid input from peers to round out the evaluation procedure.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)