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An overview of the ways nurses understand and utilise the existing Australian Competency Standards for Registered Nurses

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 15:10 authored by Kathryn Terry, Christine StirlingChristine Stirling, Rosalind BullRosalind Bull, Denise FassettDenise Fassett

The aim of this paper is to highlight the ways nurses understand and utilise the Australian National Competency Standards for Registered Nurses, which have been used for over two decades to determine both beginning level and ongoing competence to practise. This paper reports on a two-phase exploratory mixed methods study that examined what mechanisms influenced nurses’ interpretation and application of these Standards in the context of assessment from a critical realist perspective.

The rationale for this paper is to highlight the importance of an urgent critical review of the Standards to determine; their relevance as an assessment framework capable of assessing both quantitative and qualitative nursing practices and the ambiguities in contemporary nursing practice and raise whether competency standards continue to be appropriate for the nursing profession.

The paper concludes by recommending that: (1) an urgent review of the Standards be undertaken, (2) the need for critical debate and research to identify the modes of teaching and learning activities that promote competence in terms of knowledge, understanding and skills that are consistently understood and applied by nurses, (3) given the lack of existing evidence regarding how nurses use the Standards and make decisions regarding another nurses or their own competence further research is recommended that focuses on the mechanisms that impact on assessment, and (4) effective mechanisms be established for gaining feedback from nurses regarding the assessment framework adopted.

History

Publication title

Collegian

Volume

24

Pagination

109-116

ISSN

1322-7696

Department/School

School of Nursing

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Place of publication

Netherlands

Rights statement

Copyright 2015 Australian College of Nursing Ltd.

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Other health not elsewhere classified

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