Nursing Graduates’ Self-assessment of their Clinical Skills Acquired in Medical-Surgical Wards

Introduction: In order to have the most efficiency, nursing students should acquire the knowledge and skills needed for their future profession. This study was done with the goal to determine acquiring clinical skills in medical-surgical wards, through nursing graduates’ self-assessment. Methods: In this survey 50 new graduated nurses, employed in medical-surgical wards of governmental hospitals of Yazd were selected through census sampling method in 2004-2005. Data collection tool was a valid and reliable questionnaire composed of demographic characteristics and 190 items about clinical skills which used ordinal scale and was filled as self-administered. The data was analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA. Results: The mean and standard deviation of clinical skills were 294.02±42.05 out of 570 which was good. Eight percent of students evaluated their acquired skills poor, 34% intermediate, 58% good, and none of them evaluated their skills excellent. Assessment and care of patients suffering from common diseases, pain management, sampling for laboratory tests, pre and post care in diagnostic tests, performing caring protocols, and caring during medical treatment were assessed in an intermediate level recording reports in an excellent level, and using medical equipment in a weak level. The mean scores for graduates’ skills showed a significant difference between male and female graduates and also based on having daily or night courses. Conclusion: Graduated nurses’ skills were at an intermediate or good level. It seems that although nursing educational programs provide some opportunities for promoting students’ knowledge and skills, they are not sufficient. It is recommended to provide enough time for practicing skills before graduation, and take more precise clinical exams at the end of their course.