Defining clinical assessment standards for bachelor's-prepared nurses in Switzerland

A rigorous process of collaboration among multilingual and multicultural nursing faculties throughout Switzerland to define optimized learning goals for clinical assessment education at the bachelor's level is described in the context of wider European academic harmonization. Formation of a consensus-seeking panel proved a useful strategy for disseminating knowledge among academic nursing faculties in the early years of tertiary nursing education. The process enabled representatives of competing institutions to share scarce resources and articulate the added value of a bachelor's degree in nursing.

A consensus-building strategy has applicability for nursing faculties wishing to increase collaboration, efficiency, and effectiveness early in the process of academic nursing development. Lack of availability of learning materials written in the languages of the local clinical setting is a barrier to teaching advanced assessment skills.

Clinical assessment education that teaches a systematic approach to data collection, analysis, and reporting is central to producing excellent clinical professionals.