Tag: teaching-learning

Creating Competency Statements

Creating Competency Statements for Your Nursing  Program: Models, Tips and Tools
Creating Competency Statements for Your Nursing Program
Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

At some point, nearly every nurse educator has written a reference letter describing a student as “competent”. Likewise, when discussing students who are struggling, we might say “She hasn’t yet reached the expected level of competence.”  While we usually know what we mean by “competent”, it’s not always clear to others. This lack of clarity, along with the complexity of the current health care system, is driving the shift toward Competency-Based Education (CBE) in nursing programs.

Although some nursing programs—like other health professions —have incorporated competency-based approaches for many years, it has become more common. One catalyst was the AACN’s 2021 publication: The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education. (https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Publications/Essentials-2021.pdf). Other nursing/accreditation organizations are also encouraging the use of competencies to prepare and evaluate nursing students. For example, NLN has published a Competency -Based Education Toolkit to support nursing faculty in implementing this approach. (https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Publications/Essentials-2021.pdf).

Competency-Based Education (CBE)

As promised in our February 2025 Collaborative Momentum Consulting blog, we’re diving deeper into CBE- starting with a discussion of competency statements. Traditionally, nursing programs have used program goals, or student learning outcomes, to define the knowledge, skills and attitudes students should demonstrate by graduation. However, these outcomes are frequently too broad or abstract to support reliable measurement. In addition, course objectives are often not aligned with program goals, making it difficult to accurately assess learners’ competency.

Clear, measurable exit competency statements help faculty develop desired competencies which articulate behaviors necessary for successful practice post-graduation. Once these exit competencies are established, more specific competence statements (often referred to as sub-competencies) can suggest assessment measures to evaluate learners’ abilities as they move through the course of study. This backward design of the curriculum provides a roadmap to guide learners and faculty in assessing the knowledge and behaviors necessary for practice.

How to Develop Effective Competency Statements in Nursing Education

Creating effective competency statements requires three essential actions: Continue reading “Creating Competency Statements”

Kindness and Listening: Core Components of Patient-Centered Care

a nurse listening to an elderly patient

By Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

Recently, three of my friends have described a health care experience of a loved one as they transitioned from care in an acute setting to rehabilitation, and ultimately home. The patient in each of these situations was elderly, and although each ultimately returned to their home in satisfactory condition, the journey through the health care system was traumatizing for the patient and their families.  The themes in each of these stories included poor communication with the patient and the family regarding all aspects of care, inappropriate medication administration, and inadequate preparation for transitions from one level of care to another. Continue reading “Kindness and Listening: Core Components of Patient-Centered Care”

Developing Clinical Judgment in an Online Environment

By Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

Perhaps the most critical challenge we face is to ensure that our graduates are competent when making clinical judgements appropriate for novice nurses. Developing this competence has always been important—after all, effective clinical judgment is what keeps the clients we serve safe. However, the implementation of the Next Generation NCLEX (NGN) by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) in 2023 has brought this need into prominence. At the same time, the pandemic has created the need to deliver more instruction for nursing students in an online format. Let’s look at four principles to help us achieve the outcomes of developing novice nurses who make effective clinical judgment the core of their nursing practice, all of which can be implemented in an online setting. Continue reading “Developing Clinical Judgment in an Online Environment”

Online Learning: Creating a Caring Environment that Encourages Critical Thinking

By Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

The impact of the coronavirus is being felt everywhere.  As I write this, schools, colleges, and universities across the country are temporarily closed and planning to move classes to online instruction when they reopen. For faculty in nursing programs, this directive is manageable, as many face-to-face courses involve some level of interaction online. However, as I talk to faculty from across the country, I hear concerns regarding the loss of a caring learning environment among students and faculty in courses delivered only online. I also hear concerns that implementing teaching-learning strategies to stimulate critical thinking is more difficult in an online environment that in face-to-face instruction. Perhaps during this national emergency it would be helpful for all of us to think about “best practices” for online instruction, particularly those that involve creating a caring environment that encourages critical thinking. Continue reading “Online Learning: Creating a Caring Environment that Encourages Critical Thinking”

The Case for Courageous Leadership

by Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN and Cathy Converse

“Courage is the first of human qualities because it’s the quality that guarantees the others.” –Aristotle

 Introduction

Leadership is on the hearts and minds of most of us as we navigate the complexities of our personal and professional lives. Although volumes have been written about effective leadership using a variety of perspectives, the need for courage in times of conflict and discord, particularly in situations of perceived high risk, seems particularly relevant. Few environments represent higher risk than health care. Continue reading “The Case for Courageous Leadership”