Marian Traynor1, Colin Mc Neill2, Audrey Roulston3. 1. School of Nursing & Midwifery, Queen's University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 7BL, N. Ireland. m.traynor@qub.ac.uk. 2. Identity Exploration Ltd, 50 Stranmillis Embankment, Belfast, Co Antrim, N. Ireland. 3. School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen's University Belfast, 6 College Park, Belfast, BT7 1NN, N. Ireland.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A review of admissions to nursing in Northern Ireland was prompted by the growing number of applications and a desire to ensure that the applicants had the right values for a career in nursing. Concerns regarding authorship, plagiarism and reliability of personal statements used to select applicants to interview was the focus of this research. This study evaluates the psychometric properties of a Personal Statement (PS) as a method for admission to a nursing programme and a values-based psychological screening tool, Nurse Match (NM). METHODS: A self-selecting, purposive sample (n = 228; 9.7%) was drawn from applicants to Schools of Nursing in the United Kingdom (n = 2350). Participants all of whom had completed a Personal Statement were asked to complete a psychological tool and the scoring outcomes and psychometric properties of both tests were investigated. Statistical analysis was conducted using Minitab 17. RESULTS: Applicants from 18 schools and five colleges responded. The majority (72.4%) were aged 18-19. Findings provide practical, theoretical, statistical, and qualitative reasons for concluding that the Personal Statement has substantial limitations as a measure of suitability. It does not compare well with international test standards for psychometric tests. In contrast, NM is a valid and reliable measure with good discriminatory power, standardised administration and consistent marking. CONCLUSION: NM is a viable alternative to the PS for shortlisting applicants for nursing interviews.
BACKGROUND: A review of admissions to nursing in Northern Ireland was prompted by the growing number of applications and a desire to ensure that the applicants had the right values for a career in nursing. Concerns regarding authorship, plagiarism and reliability of personal statements used to select applicants to interview was the focus of this research. This study evaluates the psychometric properties of a Personal Statement (PS) as a method for admission to a nursing programme and a values-based psychological screening tool, Nurse Match (NM). METHODS: A self-selecting, purposive sample (n = 228; 9.7%) was drawn from applicants to Schools of Nursing in the United Kingdom (n = 2350). Participants all of whom had completed a Personal Statement were asked to complete a psychological tool and the scoring outcomes and psychometric properties of both tests were investigated. Statistical analysis was conducted using Minitab 17. RESULTS: Applicants from 18 schools and five colleges responded. The majority (72.4%) were aged 18-19. Findings provide practical, theoretical, statistical, and qualitative reasons for concluding that the Personal Statement has substantial limitations as a measure of suitability. It does not compare well with international test standards for psychometric tests. In contrast, NM is a valid and reliable measure with good discriminatory power, standardised administration and consistent marking. CONCLUSION: NM is a viable alternative to the PS for shortlisting applicants for nursing interviews.
Authors: F Patterson; C Roberts; M D Hanson; W Hampe; K Eva; G Ponnamperuma; M Magzoub; A Tekian; J Cleland Journal: Med Teach Date: 2018-09-25 Impact factor: 3.650
Authors: Fiona Patterson; Linda Prescott-Clements; Lara Zibarras; Helena Edwards; Maire Kerrin; Fran Cousans Journal: Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract Date: 2015-01-25 Impact factor: 3.853