To successfully meet the curricular expectations for communication skills in both the classroom and clinical setting, students must communicate at a satisfactory level as evaluated by the instructor over the semester. The instructor gathers data through scholarly papers, projects, examinations, and individual and group presentations. Two of the major content areas on the NLN Comprehensive Nursing Achievement Test for Baccalaureate Nursing Students provide a measure of knowledge of therapeutic communication. A student's ability to identify problems and recommend solutions specific to nursing care of clients is evaluated by written nursing care plans. In addition, a student is expected to implement the nursing process during the assigned clinical experience.
Nursing process is dynamic problem solving.
In the classroom, data from written examinations, oral presentations, and participation in group discussions are used to evaluate ability to analyze a client care situation and answer related questions. A student's ability to analyze is also tested by assessment of a student's written or oral critique of research articles. Deductive and inductive thinking are also evaluated on this exam. Norms were established via testing 781 college students. Norms specific to nursing students are in process.