Cultivating Evaluation Skills in Nurse Preceptors: A Pilot Study

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 to creating the clinical evaluation competencies. Funding in the amount of $93,500.00 is requested for the preceptor workshop.

Interview Protocol

Name: _______________________________Title: ______________Date: ____________

Group/ Department: ____________________ Years of Service: ______ Phone: _________

Interviewed by___________________________________________

            As you know, these are challenging times for the nursing profession especially given the constant changing of the healthcare business and the need to have well-prepared graduate nurses to transition quickly and safely into the professional role. We are interested in understanding more about what is happening when you are at your best when evaluating student’s clinical competencies. The information you provide in this interview, your collected comments, experiences, and suggestions will be summarized and used to frame an evaluation plan to strengthen nursing student’s competencies and to close the gap between instructors and mentors’ clinical evaluations.

  1. Take a moment to think about a time when you evaluated and gave student nurses feedback on a clinical competency. You were excited and had the intense feeling that you were making a difference in that student’s life.

 

  • Describe this peak experience
  • What was the situation?
  • What were you doing?
  • How did it feel to be part of it?
  • What did you learn?
  • Why did you feel or think this way?
  1. Values: Think of a time when you were being precepted as a new nurse.
  • What are the things you valued in how your clinical skills were evaluated?
  • What if OU school of nursing wanted to ensure that you had more of these positive and energizing experiences. What resources would be particularly important for making this happen?
  • Without being humble, what were the most significant things your preceptor did to ensure you were learning clinical competencies in the unit?
  • Think back on an experience when you were being precepted during your clinicals and talk about that moment when you felt most excited and proud of the feedback you were receiving. What did you most value about this feedback?
  1. Three Wishes: If you had three wishes for this workshop to make more of these exceptional experiences possible, what would they be?

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