La otra mirada del prácticumopinión de los pacientes ingresados con respecto a las prácticas clínicas de los alumnos de enfermería

Abstract

In health-care services, quality has traditionally been measured based on direct and indirect care outcomes and from the perspective of staff delivering care. However, to fully assess care outcomes it is fundamental that measurements include patients' point of view. Nowadays, quality is becoming a fundamental component for organizations from all over the world that wish to be competitive, as the implications of favorable quality indicators on short- and long-term results are very positive when enterprises focus on top performance. Much has been written on patient satisfaction, though comparatively little attention has been given to how satisfied patients are with the care received from students who come into contact with them as part of a practicum. Nursing study programs are not isolated form the new organization laid down by the European Higher Education Area, and these modifications have led nursing programs to adapt their curricula to comply with current laws, moving toward a more competence-based approach. As a fundamental part of the teaching and learning process, assessment requires new methods that allow for evidence-based measurements of competence acquisition as required by each degree. It is therefore necessary to have validated and reliable assessment tools that make it possible to demonstrate that undergraduate degree programs in nursing meet not only the requirements handed down by the Ministry to ensure educational quality, but also to meet the demands currently placed on nursing professionals by society. Following a literature search of studies carried out to assess different tools used to evaluate practicums in nursing degrees, we found that the vantage point of the patient is largely absent. Incorporating patient opinions of nursing practicums is novel, and adds to what is already known or has already been studied within this field (i.e., patient satisfaction with care professionals). Studies like this one are important to introduce improvement strategies in care and educational quality at the university level. Developing a questionnaire is a laborious process that requires utility verification before the questionnaire can be administered. We present a methodologically focused study on the validity evidence and reliability of scores from a survey. OBJECTIVES Overall objective To validate an adapted SERVQHOS questionnaire¿designed to gather opinions from hospital inpatients¿modified to gather the opinions of patients on clinical practicums performed by nursing students. CONCLUSIONS We present a validated and reliable methodology to assess competences included in the undergraduate degree in nursing. This methodology is simple, fast, and reproducible in other schools or faculties of nursing. Overall, patients feel satisfied with the different aspects studied in terms of the care received by nursing students while providing information about aspects where improvements may be made. Based on a validated scale, the study presented here creates the opportunity to gain insight on the educational program as concerns both the university and the hospital affiliated with the university as well as the in-hospital advisors, all from the perspective of the patient. This type of information is valuable and welcome by the greater community, as it allows for the stakeholders involved to reach optimal levels of quality and highlights certain areas where improvement initiatives may be put in place based on the patient opinions gathered.