Integration of Entrustable Professional Activities in a Competency-Based Clinical Assessment Tool in a Nurse...

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Competency-Based Assessment
• Clinical Performance Evaluation

Background:

• Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) are integral to competency-based clinical assessment in healthcare education.
• Evaluating student clinical performance effectively is a challenge in advanced practice nursing programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance a clinical assessment tool for Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) students.
• To improve the measurement of clinical performance, expectation setting, progress tracking, and evidence documentation for clinical competence.

Main Methods:

• Integrated EPAs aligned with national nursing standards (AACN Essentials, NONPF Core Competencies) into the assessment tool.
• Defined student performance expectations at various program stages.
• Implemented a system for students to document EPA performance during clinical experiences.

Main Results:

• The EPA-based tool provided valuable data on student clinical performance.
• The assessment effectively captured evidence of developing clinical competencies.
• Tracking EPA frequency was crucial for ensuring adequate student practice.

Conclusions:

• EPAs serve as an effective method for assessing clinical performance and documenting competence.
• The use of EPAs supports evidence-based evaluation of student readiness for professional practice.
• Monitoring the frequency of EPA completion is vital for confirming sufficient student exposure and skill development.