Cultivating Evaluation Skills in Nurse Preceptors: A Pilot Study
The Oklahoma University is seeking a grant to develop core evaluation competencies to instruct nurse preceptors on how to successfully evaluate student nurses clinical performance. The primary mission of the workshop is to develop and cultivate teaching and evaluation skills in nurse preceptors, enabling them to take a proactive approach to shape the experimental learning experiences of undergraduate nursing students to be better prepared upon graduation; hence, retention in the nursing profession. The specific aim of the pilot study workshop will be to determine if using evaluation competencies developed in the workshop would cultivate evaluation skills that will better prepare nurse preceptors to evaluate student nurse’s clinical performance after attending the workshop. Nurse preceptor’s input will be the foundation for creating the clinical evaluation competencies. Funding in the amount of $93,500.00 is requested for the preceptor workshop.
Study Design and Methods
This study followed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach to determine if cultivating evaluation skills in nurse preceptors better prepared them to evaluate student nurses clinical performance. Quantitative data collection and analysis informed the formulation of a related series of open-ended questions, resulting in a sequential explanatory design where qualitative data enrich, enhance, and explain quantitative data. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study involves gathering quantitative and qualitative data in series, where quantitative data collection and analysis precedes qualitative data collection and analysis (Creswell, 2012). Gathering quantitative data and qualitative data sequentially allowed quantitative data to inform formulation of qualitative questions, providing increased insights into findings from the quantitative data (Creswell, 2012). The sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach incorporated two data collection instruments. The quantitative data collection instrument comprised a survey with a Likert-type scale for responses. The qualitative data collection instrument comprised a series of open-ended questions informed by the collection and analysis of quantitative data. Using a sequential approach with two data collection instruments allows quantitative data collection and analysis to guide the development of qualitative questions aimed at enhancing, enriching, and clarifying understanding of the quantitative outcomes (Dickinson, 2010).
References
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches (4th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Dickinson, W. B. (2010). Visual displays for mixed-methods findings. In A. Tashakkori & C. Teddlie (Eds.), Handbook of mixed-methods in social & behavioral research (2nd ed.), (pp. 469-505). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.