In Search of Meaning: Identifying Competencies Relevant to Evaluation of the Community Health Nurse Generalist

The purpose of this study was to identify the competencies that faculty look for in evaluating the performance of baccalaureate community health nursing students. The approach to the research was qualitative and utilized an inductive analysis methodology. Eight faculty members provided data on how they judged the clinical performance of 92 students in a semester-long community health nursing course. Thirty-five competencies emerged from the data which were grouped into two domains of performance evaluation: socialization to the community health nurse role and community health nurse clinical practice.