Assessment in practice
A key element of the educational preparation of advanced nurse practitioners is achievement of advanced-level skills, knowledge, competences and attributes, both at core level and specific to the context in which they practice. A structured process for the consistent recognition and acknowledgement of the achievement, and ongoing maintenance, of a benchmarked level of competence by practitioners is a key governance principle. The lack of such a process has, to some extent, stifled progress with this agenda.
The development of nursing roles in new contexts such as hospital at night and unscheduled care/primary care out-of-hours services, means there is now a real need to determine the capabilities expected of advanced-level practitioners within specific settings and to robustly and consistently measure the level and its achievement.
This process has, until recently, been taken forward at local level within service, but is now being supported by work such as the NES capability frameworks and the Out of Hours Portfolio to standardise expectations and requirements across Scotland. Work is also ongoing in Wales to standardise assessment processes for advanced nursing practice.
For further information regarding the role of the assessor and compiling a portfolio to demonstrate learning please click on the links provided.
Compiling a Portfolio to Demonstrate Learning
Interprofessional practice and cross-professional competence assessment
It is increasingly recognised that other professionals will contribute to the learning and assessment of nurses in practice as part of interprofessional learning and working. It is important to consider how we can build a cross-professional understanding of advanced-level competence and its assessment. Agreement and shared understandings are essential for public safety and to enable service planners and other professional groups to recognise and value the advanced-level nursing role.
This is particularly important where the professional expectations and competence standard are seen as being consistent across different professional roles for example in'prescribing', or 'patient assessment and referral'. Such cross-professional expectations are increasingly the norm in nurse-led services and in settings where patients and clients may be seen by any one of a number of different professionals. It is in these types of roles that advanced practice nursing has initially been sought, and it is in these types of roles that the impact of role reconfiguration may be seen most clearly.
The mechanism by which service leads can be assured of the competence of their advanced-level staff will be crucial in liberating staff to use their talents to maximum effect. It is also essential in supporting education commissioners and providers in planning, structuring and delivering programmes.
Role of the assessor
The role of the assessor is crucial in supporting good governance. They need to be able to employ their own expertise and knowledge to confirm the competence of advanced-level nurses.
Practice assessment roles for advanced practice education programmes have often been filled in an ad hoc way through recruitment of senior practitioners. While there are examples of excellent practice involving service and higher education institutions (HEIs) working together to develop consistent approaches to assessment roles and preparation and support of assessors, there are also genuine challenges in securing, maintaining and quality-assuring the process.
Compiling a Portfolio to Demonstrate Learning
A portfolio is a collection of evidence that demonstrates your learning. It can be used for several purposes including:
- demonstrating your learning and development towards advanced practice level
- demonstrating your self-development for professional revalidation purposes
- gaining accreditation for academic modules (Accreditation with education providers depends on several factors). If you are considering using your portfolio of evidence for this purpose you should discuss with your local education provider at any early stage. See information on Credit Transfer and Recognition of Prior Learning.
- Portfolios can include evidence from a variety of sources of both formal academic learning and workbased learning. Masters level learning can be demonstrated in workbased learning by matching your learning to the SCQF level descriptors.
Your portfolio is personal to you. Many examples of portfolios exist and but most include the following elements:
- Guidelines for use
- Personal details
- Records of reflection on learning
- Evidence of Learning
The following links provide examples of portfolio templates. You can download these and use them if you feel they are appropriate for you or use the headings to do develop your own portfolio. Further information on developing a portfolio is included in the individual examples.
