Design and Implementation of a Face-to-Face Peer Feedback Program for Ambulatory Nursing.

Background/purpose: Ongoing dissatisfaction with anonymous peer feedback led to problem solving to equip nurses to provide and receive respectful and meaningful feedback during face-to-face peer review.

Problem: Giving and receiving feedback about other's performance and collaboration are a vital aspect of teambuilding; yet, no programmatic training existed to prepare and equip nurses to feel confident and comfortable in providing or receiving face-to-face peer feedback. A search of the literature demonstrated a dearth of evidence related to developing these teambuilding relationships. The facilitator role appeared in some literature outside nursing but was poorly articulated and yet appeared important to the process.

Methods: This was a quality improvement project that utilized online surveys with both multiple-choice and open-ended questions for data collection across 3 time points for 2 different cohorts over a 2-year implementation period. Strategies included education related to providing feedback with positive intent regardless of feedback type. A facilitator role was used to ensure effective communication and provide support to the peers during the process.

Results: Nurse participants described increased comfort and knowledge related to providing/receiving face-to-face feedback. Training and use of a facilitator provided the necessary support; 75% of participants reported comfort with giving face-to-face feedback. However, the greater majority, 80% to 92%, of participants reported increased comfort with receiving face-to-face feedback.

Conclusions: Using active peer-to-peer support has become an accepted standard for face-to-face peer feedback as an aspect of the annual review process.