Midwifery Students' Satisfaction with Logbook as a Clinical Assessment Means in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, 2010

Introduction: Although the majority of student assessments in medical sciences relates to their clinical competencies, adopting an assessment method which fulfills students’ satisfaction has always been a great challenge. In recent years logbooks have been used in the clinical evaluation of midwifery students in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. So, the present study determines students' satisfaction with this approach. Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on all 34 eligible midwifery students in school of nursing and midwifery of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. Data gathering tool was a researcher–constructed questionnaire with confirmed validity and reliability. The questionnaire included 23 items covering nine domains and used Likert scale. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistical indices as well as T test, correlation and multiple regression analysis. Results: The mean score for students' satisfaction with logbook was 62.7 ±15.5 (of 100). The lowest satisfaction score was related to the domain of "interest in logbook method" (57.8 ±24.5) and the highest one was "conformity to educational goals" (71.1 ±14.9) (of 100). Most of the students agreed that logbook is fair (55.9%), objective (64.7%) and in conformity with educational goals (61.8%). However, only 44.1% of them were interested in using this method. Overall, 38.3% of the students were satisfied with logbook and 26.5% were dissatisfied and the rest were in between. Conclusion: Most of the students were satisfied with logbook, but less than half of them were interested in utilizing it. This could be due to insufficient ability of logbook in assessment and promoting of clinical skills from the students' view point. Thus, we may improve the students' satisfaction level by revising logbook and combining it with some other methods of clinical evaluation in order to cover its weak aspects according to students' views.