Competency-Based Nursing Education

Competency based nursing education is the kind of health care education which is based on the assessments of the needs of the profession. The competencies required by the health care professionals in the modern world, where health care needs continue to change constantly, are derived from the roles of the various people involved in health care. The education is based on the techniques that will help instill and improve these competencies in the graduates.

Competency Based Training and Education

• Competency-based training shifts the focus from content-based education to a more constructivist approach in which there is more of experiential learning. The focus of this education is on behavioral traits that are clearly observable and measurable. An attempt to improve the relationship between training and workplace applicability is the main aim of this kind of education.

Need for Competency Based Nursing Education

• Health care systems all over the world have become highly competitive. There is a rapid expansion of knowledge in the field of nursing education. In many countries, a need has been felt to improve the quality of health care education and to regularly assess relevance of both education and training of health care professionals, especially nursing. These changes have been made keeping in view the need to ensure that graduates are competent enough to meet the needs of the health care field.

Advantages of Competency Based Nursing Education

• There are several reasons why competency-based education is finding favor with many, all over the world. It is believed that competency-based education is pragmatic in nature. The education of the professionals is such that upon graduation, they are able to meet the needs of society in a better manner. After getting such an education, nursing professionals also will be equipped with transferable skills that will later help them update themselves in order to meet future needs. This kind of knowledge is comprehensive since it combines theoretical understanding with skills, attitudes and strategy.

Disadvantages of Competency Based Nursing Education

• While there are those who support the competency-based education for nursing professionals, there are also those who do not. The critics of this approach contend that this kind of an education is task-based and largely reductionist. With such an education, professionals behave more mechanically in terms of discrete behaviors. The underlying theoretical attributes of nursing education are also ignored in such a competency-based education.

Relevance of Competency Based Education for Nursing

• There are several reasons why competency-based education for nursing is relevant in today’s world. The key issue here is that such an education can provide the basis for setting standards. The health care professionals also can assist the students by monitoring their performance as they study through their educational programs. The respective roles of the nursing students also get clarified while they are still studying.