This paper represents preliminary research into understanding the context of competence in post graduate student nurses undertaking any certificate in neonatal intensive care in Australia. The paper explores literature that discusses the evaluation of clinical competence in nursing.

Two main themes emerged from this review. Firstly there is confusion regarding the terminology around competence, competent, competency and competencies which has contributed to the use of unreliable and invalid evaluation methods. Secondly, the three most common methods used to evaluate competence (direct observation, self-assessment and practice portfolios), lack reliability and validity; the processes are subjective and assessors may be making judgements on imperfect evidence.

The review demonstrates there is no clear consensus on the concept of competence for nursing students undertaking postgraduate education neonatal intensive care in Australia. It is necessary to contextualise competence for neonatal intensive care nursing students, to generate evidence for valid and reliable evaluation of clinical performance.