Continuous Clinical Assessment (CCA) in Baccalaureate Nursing Education: The Application of Action Research

Abstract

The professional training of registered nurse (RN) usually includes two major teaching and learning components, i.e. the theories and clinical practice. There is always room for improvement in teaching and learning and ways of evaluation of student competence regarding their clinical nursing skills. Students have indicated that too much focus has been placed on preparing them for the individual assessment tasks, and that the time to develop their skills more comprehensively to achieve better competence apart from the focus on task-orientated assessments is insufficient. The practice of clinical teachers has also been observed to be task-orientated with their tendency on focusing summative assessment rather than taking balanced perspective and efforts on the process of formative teaching and learning of the students. In order to optimize the efficacy of full formative and summative teaching and learning approach to develop the essential clinical skills, there is a vital need to vigorously promote and implement continuous clinical assessment (CCA) with the focus of explicit ongoing feedback of teachers to students during the process of clinical skills development, so that more effective and consolidating outcomes of students can be achieved and carried successfully over to their practice after graduation. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the use of action research can actively promote the concept and teaching culture of CCA to the clinical teachers, and to empower them to apply CCA for better teaching and learning practice of the baccalaureate nursing students.

Keywords

• nursing education, clinical teaching and learning, educational assessment, clinical competence