Potential role of nurses in assessing house officer performance in the critical care environment

A prospective study was conducted to examine the possible contribution of acute care nurses to the evaluation of resident physicians. During a 10-month interval, 98 house officers rotating through a trauma unit were assessed by 2 staff physicians, 1 trauma/critical care fellow, and 3 registered nurses. Residents were evaluated on 33 factors related to 4 categories of activity: personal conduct, professional competence, patient-oriented behavior, and interdisciplinary relations. In all 4 categories, the mean scores of the nurses were significantly (p less than .05) higher than those of the staff physicians, but not significantly different from those of the trauma/critical care fellow. The mean ratings of the latter were generally between the other 2 groups of evaluators. This study revealed that nurses can participate successfully in the resident evaluation process, and that senior physicians on the acute care team are more critical of house officer performance than are nurses or fellows on the team.