A competency roadmap for advanced practice nursing education using PRIME-NP

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Professional Assessment

Background:

• Clinical competency validation is crucial for nurse practitioner (NP) education and public trust.
• Current definitions and measurements of NP clinical competency and assessment lack consistency.
• There is a need for standardized methods to evaluate NP student performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the PRIME-NP clinical competency model for scalable and reproducible documentation of NP student competence.
• To provide a structured framework for assessing NP students across various clinical courses.
• To enhance the evaluation process in NP education.

Main Methods:

• Development of the PRIME-NP model involved five key domains: model design, Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) assessment tools, OSCE rubrics, faculty training, and model evaluation.
• Implementation of a structured approach to competency assessment in simulated clinical environments.
• Focus on creating a reproducible and scalable framework for NP competency validation.

Main Results:

• Faculty and student feedback indicated high acceptability and effectiveness of the PRIME-NP model and its assessment tools.
• The model proved particularly effective for the early identification of students at risk of academic difficulty.
• Outcomes demonstrated the model's utility in providing nuanced remediation strategies.

Conclusions:

• The PRIME-NP model facilitates early identification of at-risk NP students.
• It enables faculty to develop more targeted and individualized remediation plans.
• The model successfully assesses student competency within simulated clinical environments, enhancing educational outcomes.