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Assignment questions
NursingDiscussion postNursing leadership

NSG 6620 Week 7 DQ 2: nurse leader performance appraisal

Describe the nurse leader's role in coaching and guiding staff through a performance appraisal, the leader's role in setting the appraisal criteria, and why the leader must model receiving performance improvement data for both novice and experienced nurses.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 14, 2026

01

Formative, not punitive: what that changes about the conversation

The stem does half the framing for you: appraisal here is formative rather than punitive, and its key purpose is professional growth. Take that seriously, because it determines what coaching means in the first question. A coaching leader does not save observations for the annual meeting; they gather evidence continuously, so nothing in the appraisal is a surprise, and they run the meeting as a two-way conversation in which the nurse assesses their own performance first. Good feedback is specific, behavioural and timely — it describes what was observed rather than judging the person, it is anchored to the agreed criteria, and it ends in a development plan with named actions and a review date. Novice and experienced nurses need different coaching, and saying so is worth marks: a novice needs frequent, concrete correction against clear standards, while an experienced nurse needs a conversation about scope, leadership and career trajectory.

The second question is about the criteria themselves, and it is a governance question. Criteria must come from the role's actual scope, from professional standards and from the organisation's strategic aims, and they must be defined and communicated before the appraisal period rather than assembled at the end. The leader's job is to make them measurable and observable, to align them with the job description so appraisal cannot drift into personality, and to involve staff in setting them so the standards are owned rather than imposed. The third question is the one posts most often leave thin: the leader has to be a role model in giving and receiving performance improvement data. If a unit manager visibly seeks feedback on their own performance, acts on it and says so, the appraisal system reads as development; if they do not, it reads as surveillance, and every well-designed criterion in the world will not repair that.

Likely learning objectives

Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.

  • 01
    Describe coaching behaviours that make an appraisal formative rather than punitive.
  • 02
    Differentiate the feedback needs of novice and experienced nurses.
  • 03
    Explain how appraisal criteria are derived from scope, standards and organisational aims.
  • 04
    Argue why leader role-modelling determines how staff receive performance data.
Assignment instructionsQuoted verbatim

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

NSG 6620 Week 7 DQ 2 Discussion Question 2: Performance Appraisals and the Nursing Leader Performance appraisal is a mechanism or strategy for sharing performance feedback with all employees based on a defined set of performance criteria.Nurses need feedback to flourish and grow as well as develop career goals and a career trajectory.Typically, there are organizational policies guiding time for and methods of performance appraisal.Performance appraisals must be conducted on a regular basis applying the organizational policy and performance appraisal guidelines.They should not be conducted as a punitive process but as a formative process to assist employees in learning and growing to become even more valuable to the healthcare organization.There are a variety of formal and informal processes for performance appraisal.The key purpose of a performance appraisal is to support and assist in professional growth. Using the readings for the week, the South University Online Library, and the Internet, respond to the following: Describe the role of the nursing leader related to coaching and guiding of staff during a performance appraisal. Describe the role of the nursing leader in determining performance appraisal criteria. Examine the need of the nursing leader to be a role model in giving performance improvement data for novice and experienced nurses. Comment on the postings of at least two peers. NSG 6620 Week 7 DQ 2 Evaluation Criteria: Described the role of the nursing leader related to coaching and guiding of staff during a performance appraisal. Described the role of the nursing leader in determining performance appraisal criteria. Examined the need of the nursing leader to be a role model in giving performance improvement data for novice and experienced nurses. Justified your answers with appropriate research and reasoning. Commented on the postings of at least two peers.
Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

02

Turn the brief into deliverables

  1. 01
    The nurse leader's role in coaching and guiding staff during a performance appraisal.
  2. 02
    The nurse leader's role in determining performance appraisal criteria.
  3. 03
    An examination of the leader's need to model giving performance improvement data.
  4. 04
    Explicit treatment of both novice and experienced nurses.
  5. 05
    Research and reasoning supporting each answer, cited in APA format.
  6. 06
    Comments on the postings of at least two peers.
03

Coach, criteria, and the leader as the example

01

Appraisal as a formative process

Take the stem's framing and state what follows from it for the leader's behaviour.

02

Coaching across the appraisal period

Describe continuous evidence-gathering, timely specific feedback and self-assessment.

03

Coaching novices and experienced nurses differently

Contrast the two conversations and what each nurse needs from them.

04

Where appraisal criteria come from

Derive criteria from scope of practice, professional standards and organisational goals.

05

Making criteria observable and owned

Explain measurability and staff involvement in setting the standards.

06

The leader as role model for receiving feedback

Argue that visible feedback-seeking by the leader determines how staff read the system.

04

What the evidence says about feedback that works

Recommended databases

  • South University Online Library
  • CINAHL
  • PubMed
  • StatPearls via NCBI Bookshelf
  • Your organisation's performance appraisal policy

Search sequence

  1. 1.
    Read your own organisation's appraisal policy and note who sets the criteria and when.
  2. 2.
    Find evidence on feedback that changes behaviour — specificity, timing, two-way conversation.
  3. 3.
    Look for nursing literature on transition-to-practice support for novice nurses.
  4. 4.
    Find one source on leader feedback-seeking and psychological safety.
  5. 5.
    Note the job description for a role you appraise, and check its criteria are observable.
05

Reference shortlist

These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.

Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.

  1. 01

    Feedback in Medical Education

    StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2023

    Sets out what makes feedback specific, timely and behavioural, which is the core of the coaching answer.

  2. 02

    Nursing Practice Act

    StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2023

    Scope of practice is the first source of defensible appraisal criteria.

  3. 03

    Nursing Shortage

    StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2023

    Links retention and professional growth, which is why a formative appraisal is argued as a workforce measure.

  4. 04

    Nursing Professional Development Evidence-Based Practice

    StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2024

    Grounds the development plan that a formative appraisal is supposed to produce.

06

Review before submission

Common mistakes

  • Describing the appraisal meeting only, when the coaching happens across the whole year.
  • Treating novice and experienced nurses as one audience.
  • Listing criteria instead of explaining where the criteria come from and who agrees them.
  • Skipping the role-model question, which is a full third of the marks.
  • Framing appraisal as evaluation despite the stem defining it as formative.
  • Answering entirely from opinion when the evaluation criteria require research and reasoning.

Submission checklist

  • All three questions are answered under identifiable headings.
  • Coaching is described as continuous, not confined to the meeting.
  • Criteria are traced to job description, professional standards and organisational aims.
  • Novice and experienced nurses are addressed separately.
  • The role-model argument explains a consequence, not just a duty.
  • Two peer postings have been commented on.

Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.

Written by

Aaron Bishop

MA, Education

assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines

Aaron leads the EssayCrackers editorial desk. He works on how assignment briefs are read — what a rubric is actually asking for, and where students most often answer a different question than the one set.

Reviewed by

Dr. Nathan Cole

PhD, Rhetoric & Composition

Argumentation and thesis development

Nathan teaches first-year composition and directs a university writing center. He reviews EssayCrackers guides for argumentative soundness and citation accuracy.

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