Incorporating electronic logs with other critical documents to monitor clinical encounters of nurse practitioner students

It is a requirement in nurse practitioner programs that students maintain logs of clinical encounters and experiences, documenting the type and number of patients for whom they care.  With the onset of advanced technology programs are now evolving from hand-written logs to electronic log systems capable of providing sophisticated outputs for the clinical experiences. Yet overseeing nurse practitioner students in distance education programs remains challenging, and it may be difficult for faculty to identify gaps in clinical education early on in the program.

Electronic student logs are reviewed by faculty and a judgment of the overall clinical experience, preceptor, and preceptor site is made.  A significant amount of data is entered into an electronic system that provides a one-sided snap shot of the experiences.  In addition to evaluation of clinical logs, faculty in one program have now begun to incorporate the electronic student log entries, preceptor feedback, and student identified goals for future clinical experiences into one document providing both formative and summative feedback.

This documentation approach for student feedback helps to identify gaps in clinical education early on in a distance nurse practitioner program.  The evaluation process follows the student through all clinical courses and provides consistent feedback to the student. Feedback may also be shared among nurse practitioner faculty at any time, allowing all faculty to have the same understanding of where the student currently is in terms of experiences and what needs to be obtained. Distance nurse practitioner programs are often under the scrutiny of regulating bodies, such as the State Board of Nursing.  Such a process helps to ensure continual over sight and rigor in distance education. This tool may also be archived as a record of student experiences and referred to when faculty are responding to requests for licensing, references, and privileges.