Comparison between head nurses and nurses views of internship nursing students clinical skills in medical-surgical wards of Zanjan hospitals, 2014-2015

Background and Objectives: Primary Continued evaluation of nursing internship training programs is required to improve the educational process, and identify the strengths and the weaknesses of nursing students. Due to continued contact of the nurses with the students in clinical setting, they could be very helpful for evaluation of this program. The present study aimed to identify the views of nurses compared to the head nurses toward the internship nursing students’ clinical skills. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in nurses and head nurses (n=100) working in hospitals at Zanjan in 2014-2015. Data was collected using Students Clinical Skills Questionnaire including 36 questions in six dimensions (general services, security, clinical care, patient assessment, education and nursing process). Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 16.0). Results: the majority of the head nurses (%57.15) and the nurses (%56.98) believed that the students had a good level of clinical skill, and there was no significant difference between head nurses and nurses (P=0.213). The total mean score of skills for the head nurses and the nurses were 139.11±21.03 and 144.23±21.11, respectively. The mean scores of the head nurses and the nurses in different aspects of clinical skills were as following, respectively: public service delivery (19.23±4.06 vs. 18.73±3.26); the security and privacy of patient (16.03±3.46 vs. 14.93±2.36); clinical care (66.93±6.26 vs. 58.44±5.06); clinical assessment (23.44±2.96 vs. 20.03±2.06); patient education (14.93±4.06 vs.17/66±3.67) and nursing process (22.83±7.06 vs. 19.23±4.06). No significant difference was found between the total score and each dimensions of the nursing clinical scale between the nurses and the head nurses. Conclusion: Different aspects of the internship nursing students clinical skills (including public services, security and privacy of patient, clinical care, clinical assessment, patient education and clinical process) were evaluated as an appropriate level by the head nurses and the nurses.