Development of a computerized database for evaluation of nurse practitioner student clinical experiences in primary health care. Report of three pilot studies.

A computerized database for the collection of patient encounter information by nurse practitioner students provides insight into the number and diversity of cases seen. Menu-driven data entry and controlled vocabulary in the form of diagnostic clusters provide a mechanism to categorize and analyze the data. Faculty are able to review student clinical experience by quantitative measures such as number of patient encounters, diagnostic cluster of the encounter, and patient demographic data. Qualitative measures such as student's level of responsibility and student prior experience with stated encounter also are included in the database. Data analysis of two interdisciplinary pilots provided comparisons across disciplines of nursing, medicine, and physical therapy. A subsequent nurse practitioner student pilot provided further refinement and a broadened database terminology more inclusive of a nursing perspective. Educational and clinical issues involved in development, maintenance, and future use of the database are discussed.