Digital feedback during clinical education in the emergency medical services: a qualitative study

• Published in: BMC medical education Vol. 23; no. 1; p. 156
• Main Authors: Nilsson, Tomas, Masiello, I, Broberger, E, Lindström, V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 14-03-2023; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Analysis; Behavioral Objectives; Caring; Caring Science; Clinical Competence; Clinical Education; Communication; Communication (Thought Transfer); Computer Science; Curricula; Datavetenskap; Digital Assessment; Digital technology; Educational Benefits; Educational Environment; Educational Technology; Emergency medical care; Emergency Medical Services; Emergency Medical Technicians; Emergency services; Feedback; Feedback (Psychology); Formative Assessment; Formative Evaluation; Health Sciences; Humans; Hälsovetenskaper; Individual Characteristics; Interviews; Learning; Learning Activities; Likert Scales; Management; Medical and Health Sciences; Medical education; Medical Services; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Nursing care; Nursing education; Nursing Students; Patients; Pedagogy; Practice; Prior Learning; Qualitative Research; Reflection; Reflective practice; Registered nurses; School environment; Semi Structured Interviews; Smartphones; Social Networks; Students; Students, Nursing; Supervisors; Teaching Methods; Training; Vårdvetenskap; Workforce planning; Sweden; Reflection; Formative Assessment; Emergency Medical Services; Clinical Education; Digital Assessment
• ISSN: 1472-6920; 1472-6920
• DOI: 10.1186/s12909-023-04138-y

Clinical education is essential for students' progress towards becoming registered nurses (RN) in Sweden. Assessment of caring skills in the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is complex due to the ever-changing scenarios and the fact that multiple supervisors are involved in the student's education. Currently, assessments of student's skills are summative and occur twice during the six weeks of clinical education. A digitalized assessment tool (DAT) with an adaptation for formative assessment is a new approach to assessment of nursing skills in the EMS. Since new technologies and changes in procedures are likely to affect both students and supervisors, our aim in this study is to describe students' and clinical supervisors' experience of formative assessments using DAT in the EMS.
This study is qualitative, using semi-structured group interviews (N = 2) with students and semi-structured individual telephone interviews (N = 13) with supervisors. The data was analysed according to Graneheim and Landman's method for content analysis. This analysis generated 221 codes organized into 10 categories within which three themes were identified. The students in this study were nursing students in their last semester and all supervisors were experienced RNs.
The results showed that students and supervisors had mainly positive views of the DAT and the formative assessment stating that the information they provided while using the DAT offered opportunities for reflection. The DAT supported the students' learning by visualizing strengths and areas of improvement, as well as displaying progress using a Likert scale. The application improved communication, but additional features linking the assessment tool with the university were requested. The application contributed to transparency in the assessments and was seen as preferable to the traditional 'pen and paper' method.
A digital system was described in a positive manner, and the assessment using the DAT facilitated reflection and formative assessment. The use of a Likert scale was considered positive in order to demonstrate progression which with advantage could be demonstrated visually.