Assessing Provider Clinical Skills
The ultimate goal of clinical mentoring is to advance a health care provider’s clinical skills in order to improve the quality of care and patient outcomes. The checklists in this section may be used by clinical mentors to establish a baseline of a provider’s clinical skills and competencies in delivery of care and treatment services; identify gaps and areas in which additional training and support is needed; and track improvement in service delivery over time. Checklists should be adapted to fit the specific service delivery context in which they are used. This section also includes other tools to assess provider performance, including client exit interview forms, self-assessment forms, and guidance on developing knowledge tests for providers.
Assessment of Nurses | Other Assessment Tools
Assessment of Physicians
- General Physician Skills Checklist (Click
here for Chinese
version)
This is a short checklist of key competencies that physicians should demonstrate when providing care and treatment to HIV-infected patients who may or may not be on antiretroviral therapy (ART). A clinical mentor can use this tool to evaluate a physician mentee, and to guide teaching and feedback. The tool assumes that the mentor will use his or her judgment to assess appropriateness of care within the clinical context. - Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Observation Checklists
These checklists emphasize patient-centered STI screening and syndromic management by physicians, and include a numeric scoring guide for evaluation. - Site-Specific Physician Skills Checklists
The following six tools are observation checklists designed for assessing physician delivery of care in specific settings: general outpatient department, antiretroviral drugs (ARV) outpatient department, HIV/ART ward, and pediatric ward. The checklists include specific skills and competencies that should be demonstrated in these settings, and are longer and/or more detailed than the General Physician Skills Checklist.- Physician Observation Tool: Out Patient Department
This tool is designed to measure a mentee’s clinical competency in an outpatient setting in which patients may be HIV-infected or have unknown HIV status. - Physician Skills Checklist: ARV Out Patient
Department
- Physician Skills Checklist: HIV/ART Ward
- Physician Triannual Clinical Assessment
Checklist: HIV/ART Ward
This tool was developed to assess specific skills within the domains of history taking, physical examination, ordering tests, and clinical decisions making on a triannual basis. - Physician Skills Checklist: Pediatric
Ward
- Physician Monthly Evaluation: Inpatient/Ward
Rotation
This tool was designed to be used monthly by ward mentors to assess mentees’ competency in several domains, including communication skills, history and physical examination skills, clinical care, teamwork, and leadership. The tool does not include specific scoring criteria, but rather can be used to initiate a discussion between mentor and mentee about the mentee’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Physician Observation Tool: Out Patient Department
Assessment of Nurses
- Basic Nursing Clinical Skills Checklist
This checklist includes skills for interviewing, history taking, physical examination, assessment, health and illness care, attitude, and interpersonal skills. The tool was designed for brevity to enable the mentor to focus on observing the provider. - Advanced HIV Care Nursing Clinical Skills
Checklist
This checklist is designed to assess competencies of nurses providing advanced HIV care and treatment. It includes skills in triage, assessing symptoms, conducting general and targeted physical exams, assessing adherence, and identifying and managing opportunistic infections, among others. - Nurse Knowledge Attitude Practice Interview
This document is an interview guide for learning about nurses’ knowledge, attitudes and practices in relation to HIV care and treatment. This tool is best suited to an initial assessment because it covers many items that can help the mentor better understand nursing practices at a facility. - Counseling Assessment Checklists
Strong counseling skills for both HIV testing and ongoing adherence counseling are important for nurses working in HIV care and treatment. Both tools address specific skills related to general counseling techniques for nurses. One focuses on voluntary counseling and testing while the other assesses adherence counseling skills.
Other Assessment Tools
- Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) Services
These checklists are designed to assess delivery of PMTCT services by health care workers in an antenatal setting (including pre- and posttest counseling, health education presentations, and counseling skills) and in a labor and delivery ward. - Health Care Worker Assessment Tools
These tools can be used to assess competencies for a variety of providers to determine training needs, and can be used over time to measure change. These tools were originally developed in Kenya in tandem with health care workers. - Mentee Self-Evaluation
This form enables mentees to self-assess their own clinical performance and strengths, and to identify areas in which they feel they need additional support and training. - Infection Control Checklist: Health Care Worker Assessment
This is a checklist for assessing health care worker performance of key infection control practices, including hand-washing, use of personal protective equipment, patient education, and use of safe, aseptic techniques during common procedures. - Patient Exit Interviews
Patient exit interviews can be used to assess clinician’s interpersonal and communication skills, and some practices. It is important to only ask questions that the patient can be expected to answer reliably. Patient exit interviews must be conducted in a manner than maintains confidentiality. Using this method often requires clearance through a country-level review board. - Tips for Preparing Good Multiple Choice Assessment Questions
This document offers advice on how to develop strong multiple-choice assessment questions and includes relevant examples. - Technical Implementation Guide: Guidelines for Pre- and Posttesting
This document provides guidance on how to develop effective pre- and posttests for training programs.