IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS OF COMPETENCIES ESSENTIAL TO PROGRAM EVALUATION OF ADMINISTRATORS OF ASSOCIATE DEGREE NURSING PROGRAMS.

Abstract

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191 p.

Administrators of associate degree nursing programs are regularly called on to do program evaluation, but to date there has been no major investigation as to what evaluation competencies are required, how well they perform the competencies or how they learn evaluation techniques. Utilizing an evaluation framework suggested by Ingle and Klauss, an instrument of 32 program evaluation competencies classified into four categories--administrative, policy analysis, personal/interpersonal and technical--was developed.The instrument was sent to associate degree nursing administrators in accredited programs to provide data to answer nine research questions. Six hypotheses resulted and were analyzed using the Chi-square test for independence and Cramer's Measure of Association V. The data obtained revealed that: (1) Associate degree nurse administrators identified 31 of 32 competencies as essential. (2) One half of 16 competencies were perceived to be performed above average or superior. (3) Only two competencies were identified as not used all the time. (4) The competencies used most often and performed well are those administrators perceived as essential for program evaluation. (5) How well a competency is performed is not determined by how the competency is learned. (6) Years of experience is not associated with perceived importance nor perceived performance of evaluation competencies. (7) The importance of evaluation competencies is not associated with the educational preparation of administrators.Suggestions for practice and research are recommended.