Nurses in resident evaluation. A qualitative study of the participants' perspectives.

This study complemented a large psychometric study using nurses to assess medical residents' humanistic behavior. It was designed to identify how nurses and residents defined humanistic qualities and behaviors and what factors affected their views of residents' performance and evaluation. The study also illustrates how qualitative methods were used to complement quantitative psychometric data and thereby yield a more complete assessment of the value of a new performance evaluation form. The results indicated that nurses' definitions of humanistic behavior often differed from residents', tending to reflect a broader perspective on the physician's role and responsibility in patient care. Nurses and residents disagreed about whether nurses were qualified to evaluate residents' humanistic behavior and about what nurses actually observed on the wards. Professional respect was an issue for both nurses and residents. The discussion section identifies some implications for resident training and nurse-resident relationships and supports the value of combining research strategies when evaluating complex human behavior.