| The role of performance evaluations in the educational process of practice disciplines such as social work, psychology, medicine, and nursing in general has been well documented. However, a review of the nurse anesthesia education literature demonstrated a lack of research to develop valid and reliable performance evaluation tools. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to identify the core educational objectives nurse anesthesia program administrators have for their students, reasoning that these should be the basis for a generally accepted clinical performance evaluation tool.;In this study, nurse anesthesia educational program administrators were provided a list of potential clinical objectives and were asked to identify those criteria they believed were essential to evaluate in student performance on a daily basis. Administrators were randomly selected to consider the criteria as it would pertain to either a first or last semester/quarter student. Nearly all of the items were found to be essential with some pertaining more to first semester/quarter students while others pertained more to last semester/quarter students. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) and hierarchical cluster analyses were then utilized in order to develop a graphical representation (i.e., a concept map) of the manner in which participants organized the trainee skills.;Concept mapping provided a visual representation of the evaluation items and demonstrated how the items coordinate with Bloom's educational domains. Similarities were noted in the overall construction and dimensionality of the two concept mappings. Dimension 1 for the graphs appeared to capture the cognitive domain while Dimension 2 appeared to capture a psychomotor versus an affective domain. Although some statistical differences were noted between the two groups of responses and the clustered items were different, it appears that the overall perceptions of the essential items were similar because dimensional interpretation was the same.;The use of consistent, standardized feedback is an essential component of any ongoing evaluation process. The results of this study may be used as a starting place for the development of a standardized clinical performance evaluation form using those behaviors identified as being essential to the evaluation process. |
