Measuring Competence: Collaboration for Safety

Abstract

HOW TO OBTAIN CONTACT HOURS BY READING THIS ISSUEInstructions: 2.3contact hours will be awarded for this activity. A contact hour is 60 minutes of instruction. This is a Learner-paced Program. Vindico Medical Education does not require submission of the quiz answers. A contact hour certificate will be awarded 4–6 weeks following receipt of your completed Registration Form, including the Evaluation portion. To obtain contact hours:1.Read the article, “Measuring Competence: Collaboration for Safety,” on pages 541–547, carefully noting the tables and other illustrative materials that are provided to enhance your knowledge and understanding of the content.2.Read each question and record your answers. After completing all questions, compare your answers to those provided within this issue.3.Type or print your full name and address and your date of birth in the spaces provided on the Registration Form. Indicate the total time spent on the activity (reading article and completing quiz). Forms and quizzes cannot be processed if this section is incomplete. All participants are required by the accreditation agency to attest to the time spent completing the activity.4.Forward the completed Registration Form with your check or money order for $20 made payable toJCEN-CNE. Payment must be in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank. This activity is valid from December 1, 2012 to November 30, 2014.Vindico Medical Education, LLC is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.This activity is co-provided by Vindico Medical Education and TheJournal ofContinuingEducation inNursing.Objectives:After studying the article, “Measuring Competence: Collaboration for Safety,” in this issue, the participant will:1.Discuss problems associated with objective assessment of nursing competency.2.Identify nine dimensions of safe nursing practice.3.Describe how a simulation program was developed, tested, and refined to measure nursing competency.4.Identify benefits and challenges of implementation of the competency testing process described in this article.Author Disclosure StatementThe authors disclose that they have no significant financial interests in any product or class of products discussed directly or indirectly in this activity, including research support.Commercial Support StatementAll author(s) and planners have agreed that this activity will be free of bias.There is no commercial company support for this activity. There is no noncommercial support for this activity.Few options are available to nursing regulatory boards for the evaluation of nursing competency in registered nurses who are reported for practice breakdown. To address this deficiency, the authors conducted funded research through collaboration between their respective institutions: a state nursing regulatory board, a community college nursing program, and a state university nursing program. Through this collaboration, a competency evaluation process that used high-fidelity simulation was developed and was called the nursing performance profile (NPP). The NPP process consisted of evaluation of videotaped performances of registered nurses providing simulated patient care in three successive situations. Nurses who were experienced in both practice and supervision rated the performances according to scoring guidelines developed by the authors. Findings showed that the NPP process has the potential to (1) provide regulators, educators, and employers with a quantitative picture of nurse performance across nine areas essential to safe practice; and (2) establish a basis for recommending a specific remediation plan or continuing professional development.