Defining Nurse Practitioner Core Entrustable Professional Activities: Essential Step Toward Competency-Based...

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Competence Assessment
• Advanced Practice Nursing

Background:

• Educational preparation and clinical practice readiness gaps necessitate innovative competence assessment methods.
• Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) offer a promising framework for assessing competence in graduate nursing education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a set of EPAs reflecting core activities for all nurse practitioners (NPs).

Main Methods:

• Eight EPAs were developed.
• A Delphi approach involving NP practice experts nationwide was used for validation.
• Consensus was achieved after two rounds of the Delphi process.

Main Results:

• A consensus was reached on the developed EPAs after two Delphi rounds.
• The validated EPAs align advanced-level NP competencies with workplace expectations.

Conclusions:

• The developed and validated EPAs provide a shared framework for competency-based workplace assessment for NP preceptors.
• These EPAs bridge the gap between academic preparation and clinical practice readiness in nursing.