Purpose: The purpose of this nursing education evaluation study was to appraise the effectiveness of a teaching strategy to assess competency in delegation in a five credit leadership/management course for senior baccalaureate students. The clinical settings used were eight medical and surgical nursing units in two hospitals. Theoretical/Conceptual Framework: Competency principles were identified from the literature and applied to two Delegation Competency modules (entry for basic and advanced for RN students) as they were initially developed and subsequently refined. The framework of competency assessment is based on NIC (Nursing Interventions Classification) labels, definitions, and activities (Dochterman & Bulechek, 2004). Subjects: A total of 151 students over five semesters in seven classes were the subjects of the evaluation process. They included 43 RN to BSN completion students and 108 basic students. Method: Self paced, learner directed Delegation Competency modules were designed. An iterative process of continuous quality improvement was followed. Each semester the evaluation data of the previous semester’s students were analyzed and the findings were incorporated to improve the competency assessment process and modules. An evaluation tool adapted from Antony, Standing & Hertz (2001), asked students to rate their delegation abilities and experiences on 7 dimensions on a 1 to 10 rating scale including comments. A narrative self-reflection section comprised the second part of the evaluation tool. Mean scores, percentages, and qualitative analysis were used. Results: A successful model for providing actual delegation practice and resultant competency for students was developed as evidenced by increasingly high ratings (range 7-10) on the evaluation tool. Conclusions: This evaluation study resulted in a successful learning experience in which BSN leadership students performed competently in delegating at an appropriate professional level to unlicensed personnel in the acute care work setting.
Session #1170 - Nursing Education: Curriculum
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)