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Mirjam McMullan

Publications and source records attributed to Mirjam McMullan.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Implementing competency recommendations into pre-registration nursing curricula: effects upon levels of confidence in clinical skills.

The competency based pre-registration nursing curriculum was introduced to address concerns about levels of confidence and competence in skills of newly qualified Project 2000 educated nurses [Department of Health, 1999. Making a Difference: Strengthening the Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting Contribution to Health and Healthcare. The Stationary Office, London]. This study sought to examine whether the implementation of the competency recommendations has led to improvements in the confidence of nursing students in their clinical skills. A self-administered questionnaire examining ratings of confidence in areas of nursing practice and core competencies as specified by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) [UKCC, 2001. Requirements for Pre-registration Nursing Programmes. UKCC, London] was administered to 139 final year adult nursing students who were studying with the Project 2000 or competency curriculum. The response rate was 53%, results indicating that the students studying the competency curriculum have higher levels of confidence in all areas of their practice targeted by the competency recommendations than students studying in the Project 2000 curriculum. The positive effect that the competency recommendations had upon levels of confidence in nursing practice, and the implications of such changes to curricula are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Students' perceptions on the use of portfolios in pre-registration nursing education: a questionnaire survey.

BACKGROUND: Portfolios encourage both personal and professional development through the process of reflective practice and critical analysis. In clinical placements portfolios are used both as a learning tool and as an assessment tool. OBJECTIVES: To determine nursing students' perceptions on the use and effectiveness of portfolios in their education as well as their perceptions on the use of the portfolio as both an assessment and learning tool in clinical placement. DESIGN: Postal questionnaire survey. SETTINGS: Higher Education Institute in the UK. PARTICIPANTS: 90 first and 84 third year pre-registration diploma of nursing students. METHODS: Postal questionnaires were sent to 131 first year and 122 third year students, with a reminder 3 weeks later. The total response rate was 69% (174/253), with a response rate of 69% (90/131) for first year students and a response rate of 69% (84/122) for third year students. RESULTS: Students felt that portfolios were very time-consuming, causing them a great deal of anxiety, and were not very effective in developing and assessing their learning and competence. Using portfolios for both assessment and learning creates a conflict. Any assessment reduces the honesty and learning value of reflective writing and of the portfolio. Additionally, students become increasingly demoralized with portfolio use over time with experience. The study suggested three main linked reasons for this, namely the conflict between using portfolios for both assessment and learning, the design of the portfolio and the amount of support and guidance students feel they receive with their portfolio use. CONCLUSIONS: Portfolios can be very effective as an assessment and learning tool, but it is essential that both students and mentors receive clear guidelines on and comprehensive support with their use. They should be designed in such as way that they are relevant, clear and user-friendly for both students and mentors.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Making portfolios work in practice.

BACKGROUND: A portfolio captures learning from experience, enables an assessor to measure student learning, acts as a tool for reflective thinking, illustrates critical analytical skills and evidence of self-directed learning and provides a collection of detailed evidence of a person's competence. AIMS: This paper reports data on how assessors and nursing students match learning outcomes and/or competencies to their practice and then reconstruct those experiences into the format required by the portfolio documentation. The data were gathered as part of a larger study to evaluate the use of portfolios in the assessment of learning and competence in England. METHODS: This three phase stakeholder evaluation was designed to gain the views of those involved in designing, implementing and using portfolios in nurse education. In phase 2, 122 students and 58 nurse teachers were interviewed about their perceptions of portfolio use, and a further 32 students and 26 assessors were interviewed after they had been observed taking part in an assessment process. Thematic data analysis was used. FINDINGS: Assessors and students underwent a complex process of deconstructing learning outcomes/competences to fit these to their practice. These then had to be reconstructed through the written medium to fit the structure of the portfolio. Confirmation that this met teachers' expectations was essential to allay feelings of insecurity. CONCLUSIONS: To achieve maximum benefit from the portfolio as a learning tool to link theory and practice, there needs to be a clear fit between the model of portfolio and the professional practice that is to be assessed. Outcomes and competences, as well as the type of evidence required to demonstrate their achievement, and integration of the whole experience should match the students' stage of professional and academic development. Over-complex approaches to practice assessment, particularly in the early stages of students' careers, can detract from clinical learning in favour of learning how to complete the portfolio successfully.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed2003

Evaluating portfolio assessment systems: what are the appropriate criteria?

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to discuss how portfolio assessment processes should be evaluated. BACKGROUND: Articles in the nursing literature discuss the use of validity and reliability as criteria for evaluating portfolio assessment processes, and recommendations include tighter specification of grading criteria, a standardized national approach to assessing clinical competence in nursing students, and inter-rater reliability checks. On the other hand, some general practitioner educators suggest that these may not be the appropriate criteria because the nature of the evidence in portfolios is descriptive and judgement-based rather than quantifiable. METHOD: Drawing on multi-method case study data from a recent study evaluating the use of portfolios in the assessment of learning and competence in nursing education in England, we suggest that criteria developed to evaluate qualitative research may be more appropriate for evaluating portfolio assessment processes. DISCUSSION: Multiple sources of evidence from the varied perspectives of students, teachers, practice assessors and external examiners are tapped as part of the portfolio assessment process. Tripartite meetings between students, teachers and clinical assessors to review placements are crucial in verifying both the written evidence and students' ability to communicate and critically analyse their performance. The variety of evidence collected would potentially allow monitoring, using qualitative research evaluation criteria, both of the portfolios themselves and the systems by which they are monitored and evaluated. However, not all this information is collected consistently and systematically, as called for in curriculum documents. CONCLUSIONS: Use of qualitative research evaluation criteria offers a potentially productive way forward in evaluating portfolio assessment processes but some aspects of current practice need to be tightened, particularly double marking, internal moderation and external examining.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed2003

Portfolios and assessment of competence: a review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: The literature review presented here was conducted as part of an English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting funded project to evaluate the use of portfolios in the assessment of learning and competence. Initial consideration of the topic revealed the need to clarify the terminology and approaches used to assess competence using portfolios, and therefore the literature review was conducted to inform the study. AIMS: To clarify definitions, theoretical bases and approaches to competence and the use of portfolios in the assessment of learning and competence in nursing education. METHODS: A comprehensive literature review was conducted using the CINAHL and MEDLINE databases and the keywords competenc*, portfolios and nursing. Articles published in the period 1989-2001 in English were obtained and their reference lists scrutinized to identify additional references. Twenty articles were found using a combination of the keywords competenc* and portfolios, and 52 using the combination portfolios and nurse education. Articles were included in the review if they focused on the use of portfolios in nursing, and those concerned with professional or transitional portfolios were excluded. This article will analyse definitions of and approaches to competence and its measurement and to portfolios and their use as discussed in the articles identified. RESULTS: Three approaches to competence were identified, each with its appropriate forms of assessment. With regard to portfolios, a number of definitions were again found, but there was a consensus that the theoretical basis of their use is theories of adult learning. A number of reasons for and advantages and disadvantages of their use were found, as well as varying ideas about what a portfolios should consist of and how it should be assessed. CONCLUSION: A holistic approach to competence seems to be compatible with the use of portfolios to assess competence in nursing students, but the concept and its implementation is still evolving. A variety of assessment methods are needed for assessment and portfolios appear to have the potential to integrate these. Reflection is an essential component of a portfolio, as are the student-teacher relationship and explicit guidelines for constructing the portfolio. Issues of rigour in assessment of portfolios need to be addressed, but the assessor's professional judgement will inevitably enter into this assessment.

Clinical Competence↗