Contact hours, skills fairs, and competency assessment

Various regulatory agencies have indicated the need to measure initial and ongoing competency among health care workers. Yet, what is competency and how can it be measured? In reality, competency assessment is about outcomes. Maintaining and advancing our knowledge, skills, and analytical abilities is important for achieving optimal patient outcomes. Competency assessment should go beyond the act of attending lectures and skills fairs. Competency assessment should be a time when nurses can demonstrate and document their problem-solving and decision-making skills, inclusion of best practices, and evidence of how those skills make a difference for the patients they care for.