# Assessing and monitoring clinical practice of undergraduate nursing students: a middle eastern context

## TL;DR

A new tool called WCSP was developed to better assess nursing students' clinical skills in Qatar, improving consistency and clarity in evaluations.

## Contribution

The WCSP tool introduces a structured method for assessing nursing students' clinical proficiency with defined levels and clearer goals.

## Key findings

- The WCSP tool improved assessment consistency among nursing students in clinical placements.
- Feedback from faculty and students showed the tool clarified clinical goals and proficiency levels.
- The tool is being refined and requires further research to validate its effectiveness.

## Abstract

This paper presents an innovative Weekly Clinical Skills Progress (WCSP) tool to support the assessment of undergraduate nursing students in their clinical placements. The WCSP tool was implemented at the University of Calgary in Qatar (UCQ) Nursing Program in Spring 2024 to address inconsistencies in assessment documentation related to the absence of clearly defined proficiency levels in clinical courses. The UCQ clinical faculty trialed the newly developed WCSP tool on eighty-seven third-year nursing students enrolled in the clinical course Nursing Practice for High Acuity and Chronic Conditions. These students were divided into 11 groups, each consisting of six to seven members per instructor, and were placed in various medical-surgical clinical sites throughout Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) in Qatar. During the course implementation and following, feedback from faculty, students and buddy nurses indicated the WCSP tool clarified the clinical goals, enabled consensus on clinical proficiency levels according to the course outline, and assessments were more consistent. Though the WCSP tool is still being refined, and more qualitative and quantitative research is needed, this paper contributes valuable preliminary results and recommendations that benefit nursing programs worldwide.