Failing to Fail nursing students among mentors: A confirmatory factor analysis of the Failing to Fail scale

Abstract

Aim The aim was to explore the psychometric properties with respect to the internal consistency reliability of the subject‐specific questionnaire “Failing to Fail.” Design Cross‐sectional study. Methods Exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the factor structure of the “Failing to Fail” scale. The sample included 336 Norwegian nurse mentors. Results The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a five‐factor structure of the “Failing to Fail” scale with adequate model fit. The factors were named as: (a) Insufficient mentoring competence; (b) Insufficient support in the working environment; (c) Emotional process dominates the assessment; (d) Insufficient support from the university; and (e) Decision‐making detached from learning outcomes. The scale proved to be feasible to test whether mentors are Failing to Fail nursing students. The confirmatory factor analysis model supported the predictive validity of the “Failing to Fail” scale.

Undergraduate paramedic student competency assessment: A grounded theory study explaining how assessors in Australia and New Zealand determine student competency to practice

“…In situations where students did not meet performance requirements, some assessors revealed that they found it difficult to fail a student who as a mentor they had befriended. Similar situations are reported in other health professions where assessor and student relationships were found to be an influencing factor in student assessment outcomes [61][62][63] "And if you know them already, like some of the students we work with its hard to make decisions on competency" 3:24:1.…”

“…'Some people get treated differently than others in the assessment, and it's not fair ' 7:246:4 The participants believed assessment should be an objective and fair process, 64,65 and were acutely aware of issues surrounding the adverse impact a fail would have on student progression. 61,64 This was a driver for assessor actions in the process of moderating. Another confounding issue was errors.…”

“…13,49 Participants reported that while it made no sense to fail a student who had little control of the practice environment, or what might present on-road, fabricating assessment resulted in some students passing when they should not. The concept of failure to fail 61,64 was of serious concern that participants considered a risk to professional standing and the public.…”

The space to make mistakes: allocating responsibility and accountability for nursing student-committed medication errors

“…When developing such a document, it will be important for educational institutions to confer with instructors to identify the document's intended purpose and ensure that it meets those identified needs. Establishing this type of support for teachers would act as an important recognition of the difficulty that teachers often face in making allocation and consequence decisions that can significantly impact a student's academic and personal journey, and would likely reduce occurrence of the "failure to fail" tendency that can lead to unsafe or unprepared practitioners graduating from nursing schools in the future (Bachmann, Groenvik, Hauge, & Julnes, 2019).…”