As nursing professional development (NPD) practitioners, we are familiar with the term competency as it weaves in and out of our everyday work. Competency is defined as a “combination of observable and measurable knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal attributes” that an employee exhibits (Joint Commission, 2022). Is the orientee competent in tracheostomy care? Did the nurse show competency to utilize the newly adapted IV pump? Is the operating room nurse competent with sterile technique? We know how to observe competency in nursing caregivers because we want to ensure safe practice and that the best patient care is delivered. We also know how to document accordingly, because we want to be able to speak to successful practice and verify regulatory requirements.
Yet, when I began to think about what it means to be competent in NPD practice, I find it much harder to wrap my head around. Why would this be? First, I have found it harder to define my role, downplaying it as “I do not perform direct patient care now.” When someone asks what I do, I respond, “I am a nurse, and I used to be in the ICU, but now I educate nursing caregivers systemwide.” I often get the feeling that I must explain why I left the bedside—although we know nursing is not defined by patient contact and rather “occurs ‘whenever there is a need for nursing knowledge, wisdom, caring, leadership, practice, or education, anytime, anywhere” (American Nurses Association, 2015).
I do not know about you, but I am proud of my NPD role and know I am successful and effective. So now the big question, how exactly do we as NPD practitioners define what it means to be competent in our own professional role?
Implementing NPD Scope & Standards
To answer that question, I believe we must first dive into the Nursing Professional Development Scope and Standards of Practice, 4th edition (Harper & Maloney, 2022). We know the NPD Practice Model helps define our roles and requirements for everyday practice. An NPD is a learning facilitator, change agent, mentor, leader, champion for scientific inquiry, advocate for our specialty, and partner in practice transformation. We seek to not only educate, drive change, and promote new knowledge, but also to help with others’ professional growth.
How familiar are you with inputs, throughputs, and outputs, keeping in mind the feedback loop? I must confess, I obviously know my everyday roles and projects, but it was not until I became NPD board certified that I really thought about how I implement these items on a regular basis. Does this feel the same for you? Let’s review two examples that may resonate with you and see if you can note your own personal growth and competency in the role.
The first NPD Standards that stood out to me are 4 and 5, which overall state, “the NPD practitioner establishes a plan that prescribes strategies, alternatives, and resources to achieve expected outcomes” and “implements the identified plan” (ANPD). Standard 4 is “Planning” which includes “developing NPD initiatives, respecting diversity, using instructional design principles, and preparing content reflective of expected outcomes using current evidence” while using “systems thinking throughout the planning process” (Brunt & Russell, 2022). Standard 5, which is “Implementation,” deals with coordination and health teaching and promotion. While “using practice judgment, the NPD practitioner adjusts implementation strategies recognizing the learner’s needs, readiness, ability to learn, language, and cultural preferences” (Brunt & Russell, 2022). We do this often and get better each time with repetition. A personal example I can give is related to a product change—a new central line dressing—to be used throughout our large hospital system. We started with the current state, ensured the evidence supported the practice change, implemented an educational plan, did both direct and virtual education and communication, and then followed up after the go-live to ensure the practice change “stuck.” Overall, this was a positive implementation, although not without its challenges, but I firmly believe it succeeded because the NPD team was involved as leaders, champions, and change agents in the process. While not the only piece of CLABSI prevention, this dressing change initiative and educational push allowed our system to reduce our CLABSI by 34% from Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 to FY 2024.
Another standard that resonates with me often is that “the NPD practitioner collaborates with interprofessional teams, leaders, stakeholders, and others to facilitate nursing practice and positive outcomes” (ANPD). Every day we interact with other disciplines, including our own, to make an impact on nursing workflow and patient care. As NPD practitioners though, we must not only engage with others but ensure we have effective communication and follow through. Another example I have is being a member of our system wide CAUTI Prevention Team and Steering Committee. Multiple times throughout the month, we meet as an interdisciplinary group to see how we can collaboratively decrease our CAUTI rates. Together, we have created a formalized catheter removal process, education, and brought in catheter alternatives—to name a few—which has positively impacted our rates and decreased patient harm related to catheters. The system’s overall CAUTI rate was reduced by 34% from FY 2023 to FY 2024. Although not the only factor, I strongly believe that the impact the team has is successful because our foundation is based on partnership and teamwork from a variety of caregiver roles.
NPD Competency
So, what does it mean to be competent as an NPD practitioner? I believe just like any other nursing role, there are levels of competence, ranging from novice to expert. We should allow ourselves “to develop individualized nursing care perceptions and implementations” by acquiring our NPD knowledge, skills, and comprehension through both theoretical training and experiential learning (Guven Ozdemir, 2019). NPD practitioners wear many hats in our role, so to grow and be successful we must learn from others, seek new knowledge and advice, oversee our own professional development and growth, and use our Scope and Standards to drive impact.
Using evidence-based practice and technology are also key foundations to ensuring we are working at our top level. We must own our practice, competency, and self-reflection. As NPD practitioners, we can attend professional conferences to share and gain ideas, join professional organizations to network with other educators, and put aside time to gain continuing education credits. These experiences are examples of committing to our ongoing professional development, engagement, and striving for feedback. This allows us to promote our own competency and growth within the profession year after year.
References
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ANPD.
Kate Segura, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CCRN
Nursing Systemwide Professional Development Specialist, ChristianaCare
Kate Segura, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CCRN, is a nursing professional development specialist at ChristianaCare in Delaware where she has worked for 15 years. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in nursing from the University of Delaware and Master of Science in nursing leadership with an education focus from Wilmington University. She is certified in nursing professional development and has been in her NPD role for six years. Her background is in critical care, and she is currently working on the systemwide nursing professional development team focusing on nursing education, initiatives, and projects.