Deck 14: Evaluation Strategies for the Laboratory and Clinical Practice Settings

Question 1

Throughout the clinical experience the clinical nursing instructor will be looking for which of the following?

A) Achievement of the student's goals for the experience.
B) Absence of errors in performing and documenting clinical activities.
C) Consistent level of safe performance.
D) Progress toward achieving the objectives for the clinical experience.

Answer 1

E
Both c and d. The student's goals for the experience are seldom considered in evaluating performance. It is unrealistic to expect that nursing students will perform and document clinical activities without making errors.

Question 2

Which of the following is an essential component of clinical evaluation?

A) Excluding or "bracketing" subjective judgments of a student's performance.
B) Delaying evaluation of a student's performance until halfway through the clinical experience.
C) Providing timely feedback on a student's performance throughout the clinical experience.
D) Merging results of both formative and summative evaluation episodes in making a final judgment concerning a student's performance.
E) Offsetting the impact of the student's worst performance with her best performance when determining the final clinical grade.

Answer 2

C
Providing timely feedback on a student's performance throughout the clinical experience. Both objective and subjective judgments are necessarily a part of clinical evaluation. Students' performance should be evaluated at all times to shape behavior and guide future clinical assignments. Formative evaluation data should not be used in grading. All instances of a student's performance should be considered to develop a picture of consistently safe practice and progressive growth.

Question 3

In identifying standards by which students' achievement of goals for the clinical experience will be determined, the clinical nursing instructor should identify the hallmarks of a superior, adequate, and failing performance based on

A) the level of the student being evaluated
B) the actions a newly graduated nurse would take
C) the actions the instructor would take in a similar situation
D) norm-referenced criteria
E) the progressive objectives for the clinical experience

Answer 3

A
the level of the student evaluated. The actions of a newly graduated nurse or those of the instructor are inappropriate standards for student performance. Norm-referenced criteria compare each student with others in the group rather than establishing standards of performance. Progressive objectives should lead to the student's achievement of goals but do not establish standards by which such achievement can be judged.

Question 4

In the context of clinical evaluation, the term "overriders" refers to

A) extraneous elements in the situation, which should be ignored
B) elements critical to minimally safe practice, which must be present
C) an overall impression of a student's performance
D) the elimination of a student's best and worst performance
E) none of these

Question 5

Which of the following should be included in an anecdotal note concerning observations of a student's clinical performance?

A) Whether the student's actions met the standard for the activity.
B) Both positive and negative observations if both are present.
C) Only observations of student-patient interactions.
D) Identification of the student and patient as well as a description of the situational context.

Question 6

A student's evaluation of her clinical performance can help the clinical nursing instructor in each of the following ways except

A) shape assignments to reflect the student's learning needs and goals for the clinical experience
B) structure feedback to address a student's perceptions of her clinical performance
C) gain insight into the instructor's observations of the student's performance
D) contribute to the student's final grade for the clinical experience
E) understand the student's decision-making process in carrying out nursing care activities

Question 7

In analyzing accumulated evaluation data concerning a student's clinical performance the clinical nursing instructor should

A) consider the student's overall performance rather than her performance in relation to each course objective
B) group evaluation data based on course objectives to ensure that the student has achieved each of the course objectives
C) discard any data that are redundant with respect to course objectives
D) give higher weight to her own observations of student performance with respect to course objectives
E) give higher weight to the student's written work as a more objective indicator of student performance

Question 8

When using a rating scale to summarize evaluation data, the clinical nursing instructor should

A) write a description of each student's overall performance as well as her performance on each objective
B) be certain that her ratings reflect the criteria established for each item on the scale
C) average her own ratings with the student's self-evaluation using the same scale to ensure a fair result
D) all of these
E) only a and b

Question 9

One of the students in your clinical group has demonstrated unsafe practice over the past several clinical sessions despite your efforts to provide feedback and correct performance. To address this situation you

A) decide to continue to monitor the student's performance, but increase your anecdotal notes documenting performance errors
B) develop a remediation plan requiring the student to demonstrate safe practice in the college laboratory before returning to clinical
C) develop a remediation plan that permits the student to continue in the clinical area with enhanced supervision
D) counsel the student to withdraw from the course rather than risk a failure in the clinical component, which would result in a failure in the course
E) report the situation to the program coordinator with the expectation that she will deal with the student

Question 10

As a newly hired clinical nursing instructor you hesitate to criticize the clinical evaluation form used in the program but find it difficult to work with it. To deal with this situation you

A) create written descriptions of various levels of performance related to each objective on the form
B) develop a mental picture of each student's performance and fill in the form to reflect that picture
C) struggle to use the form as intended but remain uncertain that the results of the evaluation are accurate
D) develop your own evaluation form, complete it for each student, and staple it to the official form as a silent record of protest
E) chide yourself for not being able to use the form as it was intended to be used in the clinical area