Abstract
AimTo provide an overview of assessment methods and tools to evaluate postgraduate critical care nursing students’ competence in clinical placement and to identify recommendations for future assessment methods. BackgroundThe purpose of postgraduate critical care nursing education is to educate professional, competent and caring critical care nurses and high-quality assessment strategies in clinical placement are of most importance. DesignAn integrative review following Whittemore and Knafl’s framework and Prisma 2020 guidelines for systematic reviews. MethodsSystematic searches were performed in June 2020 with an update in April 2021 using the following: Academic Search Premier, British Nursing Index, CINAHL, MEDLINE, SveMed+, Web of Science and the Joanna Briggs Institute databases. The systematic literature search and hand search yielded 380 studies. After screening and checking for eligibility, fifteen studies published between 2005 and 2020 were included in this review. The included studies were critically appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool for empirical studies and the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal tool for literature reviews. ResultsFour qualitative, six quantitative, three mixed-methods and two literature review studies were included in this review. We identified that competence in postgraduate critical care nursing is a multidimensional concept and it is recommended to use a combination of assessment methods like self-assessment, observation and mentor evaluation. It is necessary to have discussions and reflections between the student, preceptor and lecturer, as well as written self- and mentor evaluation to provide formative and summative feedback to the students.The need to provide consistency and objectivity resulted in the development of competency assessment tools and they were mostly developed and validated as a collaboration between clinical sites and educational institutions. Most of the assessment tools consisted of domains reflecting holistic nursing, including both technical and non-technical skills. Domains reflecting evidence-based nursing practice were less common. ConclusionsWe need valid and reliable instruments to assess postgraduate critical care nursing student’s competence in placement. Innovation and further research regarding effective and accessible assessment methods, such as digital assessment tools, are needed to meet future needs. This may also stimulate collaboration to improve the international inconsistency in critical care nursing educations. We should be working towards common, international educational competence descriptions and assessment tools that are in line with the ever-changing critical care environment, including holistic nursing and continuous learning.
Highlights
Health care is rapidly changing and has become increasingly specialized and complex
We identified that competence in postgraduate critical care nursing is a multidimensional concept and it is recommended to use a combination of assessment methods like self-assessment, observation and mentor evaluation
Competence in postgraduate critical care nursing (CCN) is a multidimensional concept and it is highly recommended to use a combination of different assessment methods, such as self-assessment, observation and mentor evaluation, to assess postgraduate CCN students in clinical placement (Bromley, 2014; Ebadi et al, 2016; Gill et al, 2006; Hanley and Higgins, 2005b; Hatfield and Lovegrove, 2012; Lakanmaa et al, 2014; Lovegrove and Hatfield, 2012; Mårtensson et al, 2020; Mattsson and Stevens, 2016; Ross et al, 2017)
Summary
Health care is rapidly changing and has become increasingly specialized and complex. The goal of health care is to give safe and highquality care and nurses ‘competence is important to achieve this goal (ICN, 2020; Willman, Bjuresater, and Nilsson, 2020). Some critical care professional organizations claim that the complexity of nursing in intensive care units (ICU) requires a post graduate education program to provide advanced specialist level nurses. The aim of postgraduate critical care nursing (CCN) education is to educate professional, competent and caring critical care nurses (CCNs) who can integrate advanced theoretical knowledge and practical and interpersonal skills to take care of critically ill patients (DeGrande et al, 2018; Gullick et al, 2019). A formative appraisal allows the educator to evaluate and provide constructive feedback to students, which leads to the summative assessment that describe the students’ ability to perform the required skills and competencies based on the learning outcomes (Hel minen et al, 2016; Oermann, 2015). CCN education was defined as a postgraduate certificate, postgraduate diploma or masters-level degree
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