From Competence to Continuing Competency

In 2011, a task force sponsored by an organization that has Accreditation Board for Specialty Nurse Certification-accredited programs published a definition of continuing competence. Eight years later, the organization sponsored the work of another task force to revisit that definition, with the 2018-2019 task force broadening its focus beyond the U.S. borders and beyond nursing. After an extensive literature review, task force members collated their findings into four categories: Identifying Competencies, Validating Competencies, The International Perspective on Competency Assessment, and Competency in Disciplines Other Than Nursing. The task force identified perspectives on continuing competency and found that although licensing and credentialing organizations addressed the topic thoroughly, little attention was devoted to the perspectives of the public, individual clinicians, and recipients of clinicians' services. This article identifies that little consensus exists on definitions of competence and competency, international perspectives have much to offer, and theoretical frameworks for research on competence and competency are lacking. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2020;51(1):15-24.].