Date of Award
Fall 2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Nursing
First Advisor
Frenn, Marilyn
Second Advisor
Thomas Dreifuerst, Kristina
Third Advisor
Paige, Jane B.
Abstract
Evaluation of students in the traditional clinical learning environment is difficult. There remains a lack of standard guidelines to evaluate students using valid and reliable instruments as well as inconsistent processes with lack of interrater reliability standards between educators. A need exists for fair and consistent evaluation of nursing students. When the clinical educator uses a standard evaluation process and understands students’ motivation for learning, adaptations in teaching strategies and education on self-regulatory strategies can be implemented to enhance learning and measure clinical growth. This research study used a prospective, correlational, pre-test/post-test design to examine the relationship between student motivation and clinical growth and to measure the concept of clinical growth. Nonprobability sampling with multisite, convenience samples was used. Participants came from three schools of nursing in a large Midwestern city. The schools had similar, traditional 8-semester Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree programs that included 7th and 8th semester students enrolled in a clinical course that included a minimum of 80 hours. Training occurred for clinical educators on the use of the Creighton Competency Evaluation Instrument (CCEI) before data collection occurred for each school. The findings from the study indicate a statistically significant difference in both educator assessment of the students using the CCEI scores from Time 1(M = .52, SD = .25) to Time 2 (M = .84, SD = .16), t(71) = -13.28, p < .001 and student self-assessment CCEI scores from Time 1 (M = .72, SD = .21) to Time 2 (M = .90, SD = .12), t(71) = -7.90, p < .001. The expectancy and value components of motivation were not significantly related to students' clinical growth when assessed by educators or students. However, when specific components of motivation were examined, task value was negatively associated with both student and educator change scores and intrinsic goal orientation was significantly associated with educator change scores. The relationship between educator and student clinical growth scores was not statistically significant indicating a small, negative correlation, r = -.11, n = 72, p = .34. The findings from this study suggest that using a standard process for assessment in the traditional clinical learning environment with the CCEI is fair and objective for students. Further exploration of motivation relating to clinical growth is warranted.