Entrustable Professional Activities in Clinical Education: A Practical Approach for Advanced Nursing Education.
Catherine Corrigan, Katherine Moran, Karen Kesten, Dianne Conrad, Amy Manderscheid, Sarah L. Beebe, Elizabeth Pohl
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Competency attainment is foremost in the ethos of this project that provides a practical guide to implementing entrustable professional activities (EPAs) as one approach to competency acquisition in the clinical education component of a health care program. EPAs are units of work that provide evidence of required competencies for the clinical education component of a program of study for educators, preceptors, and students. PROBLEM: The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has raised the importance of competency-based education and need for a practical approach to assess clinical competency challenges (eg, EPAs) in nursing education. APPROACH: The implementation of EPAs in the clinical component of advanced nursing education is detailed as an example in this article. Prioritizing a systematic approach, the Knowledge to Action framework, was chosen to guide the process. CONCLUSION: Nursing must act now to put in place a robust competency acquisition and validation system.