PBDS panic (long)

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Acute Dialysis.

I have been a nurse for over 20 years. Most of that time in ICU. This past spring I left my acute dialysis position and took a position in PICU. The PICU manager and staff had been recruiting me for months when I was there doing treatments. During orientation I was hit with PBDS. There are no peds related PBDS so I did the adult ICU. The people administering the test kept assuring us we would all do just fine, people rarely fail, it's only used to fine tune your orientation etc. I failed. I failed in a major way. The test was horrible and unclear. After 20+ years of acute nursing I no longer think about every little step in the process. I was taught to never make a medical diagnosis. I have worked with physicians that you could not make a suggestion to. If a suggestion came from a nurse it was an automatic no. I argued with the educators and made my views very clear at the time. I realize it isn't supposed to affect your employment but it does influence the opinion/prejudice those that receive the results many times before even meeting the orientee. I was lucky in that I had worked beside my preceptor as a dialysis nurse for over 5 years. The staff was aware of my competancy. My initial PBDS results did nothing to change my orientation or the focus of my orientation. Now 6 months later I get a message from the nurse educator that I have to repeat the exam. I almost had my first panic attack on the spot. I don't have alot of confidence about a majority of my life but my nursing skills were one area I have always been certain of and comfortable with. That friggen thing was worse then boards. To have total strangers put in writing that my critical thinking skills are inadequate and unsatisfactory. I have given serious thought to quiting the job. I am not sure I want to put myself through the d&*% thing again. Any suggestions?

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I feel your pain, i hate the pdbs. I am a new grad and had to take pdbs during orientation. I sucked bad, I didn't put down enough detail about what I would do. Some of the stuff I had no idea and for me to make a suggestion as a new grad?! I didn't even know what to suggest on some of them. It also didn't change my orientation any ( I already worked at the hospital as an extern) I didn't even get a full month, I got two weeks of orientation. I didn't think my educator even told my boss about it! Well time has passed (3 months) and I hear I have to retake the PDBS. I think I will not do as well or I will do about the same and I bet nothing will come out of it, no change in my job what so ever. I think the whole thing is a huge hassle and complete waste of time.

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What happens if you don't do well on it the second time? I would want to know the answer to that question before I made any decision.

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For those of us who have not run across this before, what is PDBS?

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

Please do a search on "PBDS" - there are numerous threads on this atrocity.

Traveler nurses are often recruited for assignments, move cross country and then have them cancelled if they do not pass this test on their first day.

The test requires nurses to diagnose, something that many of us do, though we are not supposed to, per regs.

Supposedly it is used to "fine tune" orientation of regular staff, and is not supposed to be used to hire/fire. Frequently, hospitals "misuse" it in this fashion.

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I don't have a clue....I feel pretty stupid!!

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I tried to Google the initials and came up with thousands of hits. Not knowing what the full name is, I couldn't tell which, if any, were pertinent.

Do you know what the full name of this test is? I have never heard of it and I've been a nurse for 12+ years.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

Performance based development systems.

Here's a link about it:http://www.clinicalone.com/c1/careercenter_clienttesting.asp

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Specializes in Acute Dialysis.
I tried to Google the initials and came up with thousands of hits. Not knowing what the full name is, I couldn't tell which, if any, were pertinent.

Do you know what the full name of this test is? I have never heard of it and I've been a nurse for 12+ years.

PBDS is Performance Based Development System. It is a various videotaped senario that you are supposed to write out the diagnosis, assesment, anticipated orders and procedures all within a time limit. You are to also prioritize the various steps. This written appraisal is then reviewed and judgement is made on the testors critical thinking and assesment skills. Ranking at various level include below standards, novice, above standards etc. As originally developed it was to only be used as a teaching tool to help guide the orientation of new grads. It is used to hire/fire in many places. You don't score well enough on the PBDS the facility doesn't bother with the expense of orientation. From the research I have done experienced nurses fare very poorly on the PBDS. Personally, I don't actively think about every step of an assesment any longer. The abnormals jump out and lead me down other pathways. New grads who are still in the academic mindset tend to do better not because they can regurgitate the textbooks but because they had to present info either verbally or in writing in this manner to their instructors.

My first experience with the PBDS when I started this job was at a very bad point in my personal life. A great deal of stress at home, starting a new job, then told by peers that my critical thinking and assesment skills were poor and below that of a new grad. It was a major blow to my ego and self confidence. To read that e-mail that I have to do this again caused an emotional flashback. I have always gotten excellent evaluations, peer reviews, and pt compliments. These are all subjective. The PBDS is supposedly an objective, unbiased review that put in writing that I am imcompetant and have poor skill. This also becomes apart of my permanent record with my employer.

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Specializes in CT ,ICU,CCU,Tele,ED,Hospice.

i can't help you.in over 20yrs of nursing i have never even heard of this let alone seen it.

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Ok, so has anyone done well on this test?

It appears that this test only brings misery to experienced and very well trained nurses. Just a shame.

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

i read a post last week by a nurse who was very angry about this test. apparently, a number of travel nurse agencies use it to weed out nurses. they, or hospitals they place traveling nurses in, administer it within days of the traveling nurse coming to their facility. if the nurses doesn't "pass" the test, their contracts are terminated and they are sent back home. i'm not sure what the criteria is for passing this test. however, i did some searching and found a few things about it. it was initially developed as an assessment tool to evaluate the critical thinking skills and competencies of new graduate nurses by a nursing educator who seems to have some esteem in the field. here is some of the information i have:

pbds (performance based development system)

(pbds) was created by dorothy del bueno of performance management services. this is a commercially available customized competency assessment process that uses a variety of methods to address the following three areas of competence: critical thinking abilities, interpersonal communication skills, and technical skills. a nurse's individual responses are compared to criteria and performance standards developed by the hospital.

dr. del beuno is an international leader in skill's testing and competency. she has been quoted as stating that 80% of nurses are not competent to practice upon graduation. it costs $5k to train each nurse once they are hired.

"the use of the performance based development system (pbds) model was refined for nursing orientation. pbds is a customized competency assessment process that evaluates an individual's ability to perform work processes and skills based on cognitive, affective and psychomotor performance designed by dr. dorothy del bueno. pbds meets jcaho and other regulatory agency standards. nursing areas conducted a needs analysis to assist in planning for educational programs. a goal was realized in 2004 when the organization was able to provide on-line educational offerings." from http://www.slrmc.org/nursing/nursingannualreportfy2005.pdf - st. luke's regional medical center department of nursing annual report, 2004.

http://www.clinicalone.com/c1/careercenter_clienttesting.asp - information about the pbds and the kinds of questions asked on it

http://www.ffne.org/pdf%20files/measures%20summary.pdf - primary tool kit of competency measures for new nurses. lists of competencies required and how they can be evaluated. the pbds test is mentioned extensively as one of the tools used. from the foundation for nursing excellence in north carolina

if you want to hear the horror stories about other nurses experiences with this test and getting terminated from their jobs, do a search of the forums for "pbds". i wouldn't recommend it though. you're only going to feel worse. if you are past your probationary period, your job should be secure. what i've learned about this test is that when it is used to dismiss employees it is done very early in their employment, not months later. since you've already taken the test once, you know what's going to be asked. can you remember enough to know what kind of resources you need to get your hands on to study up for it?

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