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.].

Measuring Registered Nurses' Medication Competence in Specialty Settings: An Operating Room Registered Nurse Example.

Nursing professional development practitioners play an active, vital role in shaping, implementing, and evaluating competency models in their organizations. This article describes a process for developing and continuously improving knowledge assessment examinations, one component of a competency model. The article defends the use of specialty-specific medication knowledge assessment examinations. The authors recommend future investigations to link nurses' knowledge assessment results to performance in practice and to analyze costs and benefits of knowledge assessment examinations.

Refine test items for accurate measurement: six valuable tips.

Nursing Professional Development (NPD) specialists frequently design test items to assess competence, to measure learning outcomes, and to create active learning experiences. This article presents six valuable tips for improving test items and using test results to strengthen validity of measurement. NPD specialists can readily apply these tips and examples to measure knowledge with greater accuracy.

Tips for facilitating learning: the lecture deserves some respect.

The lecture has become less popular as a teaching method in recent years. Yet even in our enlightened age, when active learning methods abound, some educational purposes are well served by the lecture method. This article identifies appropriate purposes for the lecture and approaches that can be used to overcome its limitations, rendering it maximally effective. Selected research findings and recommendations of recognized authorities are presented.