Competency Based Assessment in the Professions in Australia

Gonczi, Andrew

doi:10.1080/0969594940010103

Cited by 201 publications

(190 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Its relationship with other concepts such as capability, performance, proficiency and expertise make it even more difficult to define. Earlier Gonzi (1994) described three ways of understanding competence: 1) tasks related skills, 2) patterning to generic attributes essential to performance and 3) the bringing together of a range of general attributes such as knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate for professional practice. Later the Australian Nurses and Midwifery Council (2005) described competence in a more holistic way as a combination of skills, knowledge, attitudes, values and abilities that underpin effective and/or superior performance in a profession.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Assessing Nursing Students’ Clinical Competencies: Lessons and Implications

Katowa-Mukwato¹,

Mwape²,

Kabinga-Makukula³

et al. 2013

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Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) as a performance-based assessment method is a well established student assessment tool. Its popularity in the assessment of clinical competence is well documented and prominent in situations where reliability and content validity are fundamental. In this paper, we describe the implementation of OSCE in the Department of Nursing Sciences; University of Zambia for assessment of nursing students' clinical competencies. The implementation process followed an eight step-approach from which several lessons were drawn and implications were generated. Major lessons included the need for adequate preparation of faculty and students, which is a fundamental ingredient to ensure reliability of the examination, and in minimizing stress and anxiety respectively. Following the implementation we acknowledged that OSCEs are suitable for testing clinical, technical and practical skills which may not be adequately assessed through traditional assessment methods as they possess the ability to improve the validity and reliability of assessments. Nevertheless, careful consideration should be taken to avoid entirely relying on OSCE as the only means of assessing clinical competencies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Assessing Nursing Students’ Clinical Competencies: Lessons and Implications

Katowa-Mukwato¹,

Mwape²,

Kabinga-Makukula³

et al. 2013

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“…The need for support and training for preceptors in transition programs is crucial in the context of increasingly demanding work environments (Bland et al, 2011;Boyer, 2008;Park & Jones, 2010;Schmalenberg & Kramer, 2008). The preceptor plays a significant role, while navigating the complex interplay of the workplace culture, in applying competency-based assessment as the staff development personnel intended the competencies to be interpreted and assessment implemented (Cowan et al, 2007;Cusack & Smith, 2010;Gonzi, 1994). Boyer (2008) suggested that preceptors "shape the culture of the workplace as one of nurture or support .…”

Section: Preceptorshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexibility in Competency-Based Workplace Transition Programs: An Exploratory Study of Community Child and Family Health Nursing

Cusack¹,

Gilbert²,

Fereday³

2013

J Contin Educ Nurs

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Jennifer Fereday S upport during a nurse's transition to a new work environment or area of practice is important for staff retention as well as the development of competent, independent practitioners (Neary, 2000). The challenge for organizations is to design a flexible transition to practice program that provides the necessary support, acknowledges the nurse's previous level of experience, and meets the needs of employers and employees in a complex work environment. PURPOSE OF THE STUDYThis article reports the findings from a study that furthers understanding of the complex nature of delivering competency-based assessment programs for nurses transitioning into a different organization or area of nursing practice. Competency-based assessment is defined by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (2009, p. 11) as "the combination of skills, knowledge, attitudes, values, and abilities that underpin effective nursing or midwifery performance in the individual's area and context of practice."This article highlights factors that serve as enablers and barriers to applying a flexible and interactive transition program with competency-based assessment in the workplace. In particular, this study evaluated the influence that preceptors have on the interpretation and application of competency-based assessment within the transition to workplace program.Background: Successful transition to practice programs that use competency-based assessment require the involvement of all staff, especially those undertaking the preceptor role.Methods: Qualitative data were collected using interview methods. Participants were 14 newly employed nurses and 7 preceptors in the child and family community health service in South Australia. Participant narratives were recorded electronically, transcribed, and thematically analyzed using the paradigm of critical social science.Results: Five themes were identified that describe enablers as well as barriers to applying a flexible transition to practice program using competency-based assessment. These included flexibility in the program design, flexibility on the part of preceptors, flexibility to enable recognition of previous learning, flexibility in the assessment of competencies, and flexibility in workload.Conclusion: To ensure successful application of a transition to practice program using competency-based assessment, preceptors must understand the flexible arrangements built into program design and have the confidence and competence to apply them. J Contin Educ Nurs 2013;44(X):xx-xx.

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“…[2][3][4][5][6] The concept of competency is at the core of the competencybased approach in health professionals' education. Since the 1960s, authors have attempted to define competency from different perspectives (for example, see Gonczi [7] ) but issues of conceptual clarity persist. One can observe the variable use, if not the interchangeability, of the words "competence" and "competency".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dichotomy and dialogue in conceptualizations of competency in health professionals’ education

Garneau

Lavoie

Grondin

2017

JNEP

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Most research on the definition of competency and its application in health professionals' education programs is focused on semantic matters, while contextual influences are rarely discussed or solely presented as background context. The aim of this article is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the issues raised by definitions of competency and to describe the contextual factors that have given rise to those definitions. This is achieved by presenting the results of a literature review that synthesized different conceptualizations of competency. We analyzed relevant literature listed in the CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO databases as of 2015. The results show that authors define competency based on two diverging driving forces: one aimed at professional regulation and the other at professional emancipation. The analysis revealed common grounds between these perspectives. From these common grounds we discuss the possibility of conceptualizing competency on a continuum instead of perpetuating the dichotomized discourses presented in the current literature. The integration of both perspectives gives the opportunity to rethink policies, structures and strategies of professional education toward an integrated perspective of professional development situated in a lifelong learning enterprise, achieving both minimal professional standards and excellence in healthcare practices from initial education throughout a career.

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Competency Based Assessment in the Professions in Australia

Cited by 201 publications

References 8 publications

Implementation of Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Assessing Nursing Students’ Clinical Competencies: Lessons and Implications

Implementation of Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Assessing Nursing Students’ Clinical Competencies: Lessons and Implications

Flexibility in Competency-Based Workplace Transition Programs: An Exploratory Study of Community Child and Family Health Nursing

Dichotomy and dialogue in conceptualizations of competency in health professionals’ education

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