Survey Design
Professional Development Needs Assessment Survey
Nursing Education Professional Development Needs Assessment Survey
Needs Assessment Overview
An overview of the focus area and the need for professional growth
This needs assessment is about our Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) and outcomes evaluation for certification. Nursing schools must present proof that their students are meeting their goals and that their instructors are using data to create and record progress over time.
Professional development in CQI helps us use data consistently across all of our courses and clinical learning. It also helps us prepare for accreditation reviews by improving our documentation. It also follows our Code of Ethics by promoting honesty, fairness in evaluation, inclusion, psychological safety to speak up, and accountability to students and the public.
Overview and Reason for Designing Questions
There are five closed-ended questions on the survey that help us rapidly find out about trends in faculty confidence, engagement in our CQI work, preparedness to "close the loop," comfort with voicing issues, and important Professional Development (PD) themes.
It also has five open-ended questions to find out about particular problems, required help, and preferred ways to learn. Questions are prepared in a way that does not make any assumptions or assign blame, and they provide useful information for planning professional growth.
Needs Assessment Survey
Focus Area: Our Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) and Outcomes Assessment for Accreditation
Directions: Please answer based on your current role and experiences. Results will be used to guide professional development that supports our CQI work and accreditation readiness.
Closed-Ended Items
Confidence using data to support our CQI
How confident are you in using course/program outcomes data to support our CQI (e.g., interpreting results, documenting conclusions, and using data responsibly)?
Consistency and transparency in evaluation evidence
How confident are you in applying consistent, transparent evaluation practices and documenting them as evidence that supports our CQI and accreditation expectations?
Documenting "closing the loop" in our CQI
To what extent do you agree with this statement: "I can clearly document how decisions were made in our CQI process (what changed, why, and what improved) in a way that is ready for accreditation review."
Speaking up to strengthen our CQI
How comfortable are you raising concerns or questions related to outcomes, evaluation practices, or compliance to strengthen our CQI work?
Professional development priorities for our CQI
Which topics would be most helpful for you right now to support our CQI? (Select up to 2.)
Select up to TWO options
Open-Ended Items
What part of outcomes assessment or our CQI process is most challenging for you right now (e.g., time, access to reports, interpreting data, documenting decisions, consistency across courses)?
What would help you participate more effectively in our CQI work with integrity and transparency (examples: clearer expectations, decision rules, shared templates, peer review of reports)?
In your view, what barriers may affect fairness and equity in evaluation or outcomes within our CQI efforts, and what support would help address them?
What types of documentation or evidence are hardest to produce or maintain for our CQI and accreditation (e.g., minutes showing decisions, action plans, outcome reports, documentation of changes), and what would make it easier?
What professional development format would best support your participation in our CQI work? (Examples: short micro-trainings, workshops, 1:1 coaching, peer work sessions, checklists/templates, asynchronous modules). Please explain.