V erformance appraisal is done to help an employee improve

work methods to ensure the achievement of organizational

goals.
V Each employee should be evaluated by the line supervisor.
(lease refer to the organizational chart of the Nursing
Service) Thus, the Assistant Chief Nurse is evaluated by the
Chief Nurse, the Supervising Nurses by the Assistant Chief
Nurse and Chief Nurse, the Senior Nurse By the
Supervising Nurses. The Staff Nurses and the Nursing
Attendants by the Senior Nurses.
V Chief nurse

V The performance evaluation system for nursing

personnel approved by the Civil Service Commission in
Memo Circular No. 12 series of 1989 is found in Appendix F.
 á







 







 

V For a worker·s performance evaluation to be valid, it must
be based upon the job description that she occupies and
upon behaviourally oriented performance standards for that
position.
V An adequate and representative sampling of the nurses·
behaviour should be observed in the process of evaluating
performance. In other words, care must be taken to evaluate
her usual or consistent behaviour and to avoid focusing on
and magnifying the importance of an isolated, a typical
instance of either extremely capable or extremely inept
behaviour.
V The nrsae should be given a copy of her job description,
performance standards and evaluation form to review
before the scheduled evaluation conference so that the nurse
and her supervisor can discuss the evaluation from the same
frame of reference.
V In documenting the employee·s performance appraisal, the
manager should indicate clearly those areas in which
worker·s performance is satisfactory and those in which
improvements are needed. Additionally, she should refer to
specific instances of the nurses satisfactory and the
unsatisfactory behaviour in order to clarify exactly what
types of change are required in her performance.
V If there is a need for improvement in several areas of the
nurse·s performance, the manager should indicate which
area(s) should be given priority by the nurse as she attempts
to improve her effectiveness.
V The evaluation interview should be scheduled at a time
convenient for both nurse and manager. It should be held in
pleasant surroundings and should allow time for both to ask
questions and to discuss the evaluation at length.
There are five general types of evaluation devices in common
use for performance evaluation. They are the free response
report, the simple ranking, the performance checklist, the
graphic rating, and the forced choice comparison.

V 1. In the free response report the evaluator is asked to

comment in writing on the quality of the nurse·s
performance in a particular position over a given period.
Because the evaluator is given no direction concerning
which aspects of the nurse·s performance are to be
evaluated, the assessment is apt to be invalid in that it lacks
attention to one or more significant aspects of the
employee·s job description. The free response evaluation
report may also lack objectivity if it concentrates only on
those areas of the nurse·s performance about which the
supervisor has developed strong feelings.
V 2. Some evaluation tools call upon the evaluator to rank the
employee in relation to his co-workers with respect to
certain aspects of performance. Thus, a particular staff nurse
might be ranked by her supervisor as having demonstrated
the highest quality of performance among the seven staff
nurses in her unit with regard to patient care measures;
third from the top of the same group of seven with regard to
the quality of her patient teaching; and, at the bottom of the
group of seven with regard to the quality of her
contributions to a research project being carried out in the
unit.
V 3. A performance checklist might consist of a list of
performance criteria (one of each of the most important
tasks in the employee·s job description) with adjacent blanks
in which the evaluator is asked to indicate, for each
criterion, whether the nurse does or does not exhibit the
desired behaviour. Since the criteria are statements of
desired or approved behaviour, quick glance at the
completed form reveals the overall quality of the nurse·s
total work performance.
V Ä. The graphic rating scale includes a series of
items representing different activities or tasks
included in the nurse·s job description. The
supervisor is asked to indicate the quality of
the nurse·s performance of each activity by
checking the appropriate phrase in a series of
phrases. An example follows:

A. On a Scale of 0 through 5, Indicate the

degree of the nurse·s manual dexterity and skill
in handling surgical instruments and supplies.
 1 2 3 Ä 5

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V Encircle the adverb that best describes the nurse·s

performance. Uses surgical aseptic technique in
changing patient·s wound dressing.

Never Occassionally Usually Always

Skill in Surgical Aseptic Techniques in Wound Dressings

where each adverb correspondly means:

V Always ² uses aseptic technique all the time

V Usually ² uses aseptic technique most of the time
V Occasionally ² uses aseptic technique sometime
V Never ² does not use aseptic technique at all
V In the forced ² choice comparison the evaluator is asked
to choose from a group of weighted descriptive
stataments those that best describe the nurse being
evaluated and those that least describe her. Favorable and
unfavourable items are grouped in such a manner that
the evaluator is forced to select some unfavourable as
well as some favorabke statements to describe the nurse·s
performance. This feature of the forced ² choice
comparison tool tends to counteract the tendency toward
leniency in the part of some evaluators.
The descriptive statements making up the form are
weighted according to their ability to predict success in
the nursing position under consideration. Since the
supervisor who uses the form does no know the
predictive ability of each item, she cannot be tempted to
select particular responses to skew the final score in a
positive or negative direction. An example of a forced-
choice comparison is as follows:
a. Select from the following quarter of statements the one that best
describes the nurse being evaluated and the least that describes
her:

1. Enjoys the respect of co-workers

2. Tends to complain about assignments
3. rompt in reporting changes in patient·s condition
Ä. Becomes disorganized when faced with an emergency

b. Both the evaluation report and the evaluation conference should be

structured so that they are perceived as helpful by the nurse whose
performance is being analyzed.
Frequency of Evaluation

V First evaluation - After the end of

orientation
V Second evalution - on the third month
V Third evaluation - on the sixth month,
before permanency
V Bi ² annual - every six months
V Annual - utilizing the
erformance
Appraisal System