Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/3394
Title: | An exploration of the role that expert knowledge plays in the assessment of undergraduate clinical competence: registered nurses' experiences | Contributor(s): | Paliadelis, Penelope Susan (author); Cruickshank, Mary Therese (author) | Publication Date: | 2003 | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/3394 | Abstract: | Introduction: This phenomenological study, conducted in rural Australia, explored the experiences of registered nurses (RNs) responsible for assessing the clinical competence of undergraduate nursing students. The purpose of the study was to gain insight into the experiences of a group of registered nurses who assess student competence by exploring how they perform the assessment process. A key assumption on which this study was based is that the participants are 'expert nurses', as defined by Benner. Method: Participants were recruited using purposive sampling from a population of registered nurses who assessed the clinical performance of undergraduate nursing students studying at a rural university in New South Wales, Australia. Individual unstructured interviews were conducted and audiotaped with the participants’ permission. The analysed data were given to all participants to check for accuracy and validation and a thematic analysis of the data was conducted. Results: Four themes were identified; the major theme, described in this article, was identified in all the narratives. The participants all acknowledged that they use their expert nursing knowledge to assist them when assessing the clinical competence of nursing students. The participants used a variety of terms to describe this type of knowledge such as intuition, instinct, gut feeling and ‘just knowing’. Conclusions: While the findings of this study confirmed that experienced nurses unconsciously use their expert nursing knowledge when making decisions about students’ competence, the findings also indicated a lack of awareness or underestimation of the value of expert clinical knowledge. These findings reinforce the need for further investigation to determine the role of expert nursing knowledge in the clinical competency assessment process. This is particularly significant for rural registered nurses employed in small health-care facilities, who often assume the role of assessors of student clinical | Publication Type: | Journal Article | Source of Publication: | Rural and Remote Health, 3(2), p. 1-6 | Publisher: | Australian Rural Health Education Network | Place of Publication: | Australia | ISSN: | 1445-6354 | Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 111099 Nursing not elsewhere classified | Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: | 920210 Nursing | Peer Reviewed: | Yes | HERDC Category Description: | C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal | Publisher/associated links: | http://www.rrh.org.au/articles/subviewnew.asp?ArticleID=191 |
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Appears in Collections: | Journal Article School of Health |
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