Constructing a nurse appraisal form: A Delphi technique study

OBJECTIVE: The study was conducted with the aim to construct a unified nurse appraisal format to be used at hospitals performing under different healthcare organizations in the Eastern Province in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. METHODOLOGY: The study included hospitals representing different healthcare organizations within the Eastern Province. The target population included Hospital head nurses and nurse supervisors and the snowball sampling technique was employed to select the panel subjects. RESULTS: The final draft resulted into the agreed upon performance dimensions which included namely; quality standards, work habits, supervision/leadership, staff relations and interpersonal skills, attendance and punctuality, problem solving, oral communication, productivity results, coordination, innovation, record keeping. CONCLUSION: Nurse managers have to continuously assess competence of practicing nurses to assure qualified and safe patient care. A nurse appraisal form was constructed concurrently with this study results and was proposed to be used at all Eastern Region hospitals. This study is considered an initial step for further efforts and studies to be conducted to reach both national and international nursing appraisal dimensions and unify them for the sake of best health promotion.