Evaluation of Community and Mental Health Nursing Department of Gonabad University of Medical Sciences in 2010

Quality in educational system deserves special importance and its purpose is the maximum use of resources. Also, evaluation plays a fundamental role in quality improvement. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the internal evaluation of community and mental health nursing department of Gonabad university of medical sciences. This study was a descriptive one. The sample included faculty members, managers, students and related resources as well as the documents of community and mental health nursing department of Gonabad university of medical sciences. A non-random selection based on the objective was used for their selection. Data collection tools were a questionnaire and a checklist. Moreover, observation, inquiry and focus group discussion were used to collect data. The data were analyzed via descriptive statistics. Evaluation resulted in 8 factors, 41 criteria and 212 markers that were studied and indicated that the total score of facilities and educational equipments were the highest (92.18%). The minimum score was allocated to educational courses, academic and nonacademic curricula (55.55%). The department should attempt to maintain and promote the items with desired status according to progress of science and technology, they also should try to improve the factors that did not get high score on internal evaluation, by careful planning. University administrators also should provide necessary resources and good conditions to improve the group and achieve the best conditions.