An Educational Intervention to Enhance the Performance of Peer Feedback

Abstract

OBJECTIVE Offering peer feedback on a routine basis may improve nursing, patient, and organizational outcomes by addressing potentially problematic issues before they occur. BACKGROUND There is limited literature of specific feedback processes, although national agencies support peer feedback as a professional responsibility. METHODS An educational tool was used to train nurses on defining what constitutes professional peer review, reviewing ethical and professional standards, and evaluating the types of peer feedback supported by the literature along with suggestions to use when giving and receiving peer feedback. RESULTS The Beliefs about Peer Feedback Questionnaire was used to evaluate the nurses' perceived value and confidence when giving and receiving peer feedback before and after the implementation of the educational tool. The nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test demonstrated overall improvement. CONCLUSIONS When peer feedback educational tools were available to nurses and the environment supports professional peer review, there was a significant improvement in the level of comfort when giving and receiving peer feedback, along with increased perceived value of peer feedback given and received.