Comparison of self‑, peer, and teachers’ evaluation about the clinical skills of nursing students at the department of psychiatry

Evaluating clinical performance is a challenge in nursing education. On the other hand, a single evaluation method cannot be used to judge different areas of interpersonal skills. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare the evaluation of teachers’, peer, and self‑evaluation of nursing students in the psychiatric ward of Baharan Hospital affiliated to Zahedan University of Medical Sciences.

In this analytical cross‑sectional study, forty trainee students were selected by a census method in a time period and they were evaluated by three methods including self‑, peer, and teachers’ evaluation. Their clinical skills were assessed using a school‑based clinical evaluation questionnaire containing 15 questions in the areas of taking history, examination of psychiatric health, and the ability to communicate with the patient. The analyses were performed by SPSS‑22 software.

The mean and standard deviation of the evaluation scores of clinical teachers as well as peer and self‑evaluation in the areas of taking patient’s history were 13.82 ± 2.74, 14.46 ± 2.68, and 15.75 ± 2.56, respectively. In addition, the outcomes in the areas of psychiatric examination were 8.11 ± 1.54, 9.25 ± 2.70, and 10.43 ± 2.65 and in the areas of clinical communication were 8.93 ± 2.03, 9.04 ± 2.25, and 10.21 ± 1.98, respectively. There was a significant correlation between the mean of teachers’ evaluation and self‑evaluation scores (P = 0.003) as well as comparing peer and self‑evaluation (P = 0.048). However, no significant correlation was observed between teachers’ and peer evaluation (P = 0.062).

Due to the difference in scores of different methods of evaluation, self‑ and peer evaluation can be used as a complementary method with teachers’ evaluation in measuring the clinical performance of clinical students.