Competencies and standards in nurse education: The irresolvable tensions

Collier-Sewell, Freya; Atherton, Iain; Mahoney, Catherine; Kyle, Richard G.; Hughes, Emma; Lasater, Kathie

Abstract

This paper explores the inherent contradiction between the purpose of nurse education – to produce critical thinking, autonomous and accountable future nurses – and the prescription of standards and competencies to realize this goal. Drawing on examples from the United Kingdom's Nursing and Midwifery Council's (NMC) ‘Future Nurse’ standards, we argue that standards and competencies offer little more than a veneer of protection to the public and that, fundamentally, educational approaches based on ‘dot point’ formulations are antithetical to conditions in which genuinely critical-thinking, autonomous and accountable practitioners can develop. The purpose of this paper is to raise debate about the hegemony of competencies and standards. For the sake of academic health and the future of the nursing profession, the ubiquity of competency-based education must be critiqued and challenged.

Citation

Collier-Sewell, F., Atherton, I., Mahoney, C., Kyle, R. G., Hughes, E., & Lasater, K. (2023). Competencies and standards in nurse education: The irresolvable tensions. Nurse Education Today, 125, Article 105782. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2023.105782

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 4, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Mar 10, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-06
• Deposit Date: May 17, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: May 17, 2023
• Journal: Nurse Education Today
• Print ISSN: 0260-6917
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 125
• Article Number: 105782
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2023.105782
• Keywords: Nurse education, Competence, Competency-based education, Standards, Critical thinking