title: Clinical nurse leaders' and academics' perspectives in clinical assessment of final-year nursing students: A qualitative study.
abstract: The nature of nursing practice is diverse; therefore, clinical assessment is a complex process. This study explores the perceptions of clinical nurse leaders and academics on clinical assessment for undergraduate nursing education during transition to practice. An explorative qualitative approach was applied. Eight nurse managers, six clinical nurse educators, and eight academics from two tertiary hospitals and a university in Singapore participated in four focus group discussions. Thematic analysis was conducted. Four overriding themes were revealed: the need for a valid and reliable clinical assessment tool, preceptors' competency in clinical assessment, challenges encountered by the students in clinical assessment, and the need for close academic and clinical collaboration to support preceptors and students. Closer academic-clinical partnership is recommended to review the clinical education curriculum. Clinical and educational institutions need to work closely to design a learning program to enhance preceptors' competence in clinical pedagogy and assessment. Furthermore, a stress management program could build students' resiliency in coping with unfamiliar clinical environments. Ongoing support needs to be provided for both preceptors and students to enrich the preceptorship and learning experiences.
authors.affiliation: Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.|School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Xi Vivien
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9264-3630
authors.initials: XV
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Enskär
authors.affiliation: Department of Education and Practice, Nursing Service, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Lay Hoon
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Pua
authors.affiliation: Nursing Education, National University Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Doreen Gek Noi
authors.initials: DGN
authors.lastname: Heng
authors.affiliation: Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Wenru
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003479:Curriculum; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000592:standards*; D005181:Faculty, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009718:Nurse Administrators / Q000523:psychology*; D011231:Preceptorship / Q000379:methods*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012846:Singapore; D013338:Students, Nursing
keywords: academics; clinical assessment; clinical nurse leaders; clinical nursing education; nurse preceptors; undergraduate nursing students