Testing Nursing Competence: Validity and Reliability of the Nursing Performance Profile

Abstract

The NPP can be used to assess competence and make decisions supporting public safety.

Clinical Competence Assessed Using Simulation: Development of a Standardized Tool to Assess Nutrition-Focused Physical Exam Skill Competence for Registered Dietitian Nutritionists

“…The Nursing Performance Profile (NPP) is a competency assessment tool that has been used to assess nursing simulation-based activities and outcomes have demonstrated high reproducibility. 15 In addition to NPP, research suggests successful outcomes with the Creighton Competency Evaluation Instrument (C-CEI), which has been proven effective and is nationally recognized and used by nursing educators. 16 Both the NPP and the C-CEI use a binary scale (pass/fail) to score a learner's competence on clinical skills, such as Administers medications accurately and safely and Demonstrates application of infection control principles.…”

“…16 Both the NPP and the C-CEI use a binary scale (pass/fail) to score a learner's competence on clinical skills, such as Administers medications accurately and safely and Demonstrates application of infection control principles. 15,16 Although this method may be sufficient for understanding a health care provider or student's ability to perform a skill, it has limited ability to differentiate from levels of competence and is not as useful for formative assessment to detect growth and change in skill as additional training and experience accumulates. For example, to demonstrate achievement of skills required for entry-level dietetics practice, ACEND has recommended the use of a tiered system that differentiates a student's progression from below-to above-expected performance that can be used to track progress throughout a competency-based dietetics education program.…”

“…3,4,6,14,17 Although previously published accounts of health care−related competency assessment tools have scored participants on the basis of a pass/fail model, the tool developed in this study used the model of a checklist of behaviors in which each component of the NFPE skill was assessed on a 9point Likert scale. 15,16 Scores were assigned on the 9-point scale on the basis of how closely the participants reflected attributes in criteria statements developed for each component of the NFPE. This type of scale was chosen for its greater ability to provide formative assessment performance feedback, compared with the binary categories of yes, competent, or no, not competent.…”