TY - JOUR
T1 - Measuring competency progression across the advanced practice nursing curriculum
T2 - A framework for continuous improvement
AU - Johnson, Heather L.
AU - Owen, Regina P.
AU - Romito, Kenneth
AU - Jennings, Samantha
AU - Hall, Andrea
AU - Patton, Alison L.
AU - Braybrook, Connie
AU - Beatty, Jonathan R.
AU - Tetteyfio, Godsgrace
AU - Casper, Bethany A.
AU - Sheets, Deanna M.
AU - Seibert, Diane C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025
PY - 2025/11/1
Y1 - 2025/11/1
N2 - As competency-based education (CBE) becomes a defining expectation in graduate nursing education, many programs face the challenge of systematically evaluating how and where competencies are taught, reinforced, and assessed across the curriculum. This article describes a structured, replicable process used by one graduate nursing program to measure competency progression across five advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) specialties. Using adapted national frameworks, including the 2021 American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education and the 2024 National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) Competency Implementation Guide, the faculty developed faculty-friendly tools to map course assessments to sub-competencies, performance expectations, and developmental frameworks such as Miller's Pyramid and Benner's Novice to Expert Model. A staged implementation approach included custom-designed Google Forms™ and Sheets™ that allowed for real-time visualization, pattern recognition, and faculty reflection. This method promoted a shared understanding of CBE principles, revealed gaps and redundancies in assessment design, and informed curricular refinement. Lessons learned offer practical guidance for other programs seeking to move from traditional objective-based education to a competency-driven model that prepares APRNs for complex and evolving healthcare environments.
AB - As competency-based education (CBE) becomes a defining expectation in graduate nursing education, many programs face the challenge of systematically evaluating how and where competencies are taught, reinforced, and assessed across the curriculum. This article describes a structured, replicable process used by one graduate nursing program to measure competency progression across five advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) specialties. Using adapted national frameworks, including the 2021 American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education and the 2024 National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) Competency Implementation Guide, the faculty developed faculty-friendly tools to map course assessments to sub-competencies, performance expectations, and developmental frameworks such as Miller's Pyramid and Benner's Novice to Expert Model. A staged implementation approach included custom-designed Google Forms™ and Sheets™ that allowed for real-time visualization, pattern recognition, and faculty reflection. This method promoted a shared understanding of CBE principles, revealed gaps and redundancies in assessment design, and informed curricular refinement. Lessons learned offer practical guidance for other programs seeking to move from traditional objective-based education to a competency-driven model that prepares APRNs for complex and evolving healthcare environments.
KW - Benchmarking
KW - Competency-based education
KW - Faculty
KW - Nursing
KW - Performance assessment
KW - Teaching
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105017449652&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.09.011
DO - 10.1016/j.profnurs.2025.09.011
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105017449652
SN - 8755-7223
VL - 61
SP - 69
EP - 76
JO - Journal of Professional Nursing
JF - Journal of Professional Nursing
ER -