Introduction
Evaluating students’ performance is an important component of being an educator. Check-offs in skills labs can be extremely demanding for both students and professors. Students should not be permitted an unlimited number of attempts to pass a skill since this can lead to an over-reliance on repeated efforts and a loss of drive to study and improve. However, it is critical to acknowledge that students must accept responsibility for their learning.
Discussion
Skills lab check-offs are high-stakes tests, so educators must create a positive testing environment. To alleviate anxiety and improve psychological safety for students, instructors should also be helpful and approachable (Oermann et al., 2021). It is difficult for any instructor to fail a student, but being honest and forthright with students about their performance is critical. When a student fails, instructors should give positive feedback, provide extra tools for growth, and encourage students to keep learning.
Students may feel their professors attempt to sort out students, but this is not always true. Faculty instead strive to ensure that students fulfill the criteria necessary to become competent nurses (Billings & Halstead, 2019). This includes assessing abilities, knowledge, and professional conduct. As a working nurse, I understand the value of skill checks and other evaluations in educating students to provide safe and effective care. My responsibility as an instructor is to promote students’ learning and growth and assess them. By doing so, I can assist in preparing the future generation of nurses to offer exceptional patient care.
Simulations can provide a secure and controlled setting for students to practice clinical skills while developing critical thinking and decision-making ability. Instructors can also use simulators to teach collaboration and communication skills, which are important in healthcare. Students can use learning laboratories to practice clinical skills, develop critical thinking and decision-making abilities, and participate in interprofessional teamwork (Oermann et al., 2021). Learning laboratories can also provide a safe and controlled setting in which students can make mistakes and learn from them without endangering patients.
Conclusion
To summarize, evaluating students in nursing school might be difficult, but it is an important element of teaching students to become competent nurses. Instructors can assist students in developing the skills and information needed to provide great patient care by creating a positive testing environment, providing constructive comments, and introducing simulations and learning laboratories into nursing instruction.
References
Billings, D. M., & Halstead, J. A. (2019). Teaching in Nursing E-Book: A Guide for Faculty. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Oermann, M. H., De Gagne, J. C., Phillips, B. C. (2021). Teaching in Nursing and Role of the Educator. Springer EBooks. Web.