Reducing Barriers for RN-BSN Education: The Assessment Competency Evaluation.

The Northeast Team of the Ohio Action Coalition, composed of regional clinical and academic educators, identified a potential barrier for nurses pursuing a baccalaureate degree. Duplication of health assessment content was identified for some associate degree graduates enrolled in RN-BSN programs, thereby adding extra time and cost for attaining the baccalaureate degree. In response, the Northeast Team of the Ohio Action Coalition developed an assessment competency evaluation that, if successfully passed, would grant credit for the health assessment course.

A Crisis in Competency: The Strategic and Ethical Imperative to Assessing New Graduate Nurses' Clinical Reasoning.

Aim: The aim of the study was to assess entry-level competency and practice readiness of newly graduated nurses.

Background: Literature on success of new graduates focuses primarily on National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) pass rates, creating a false and incomplete picture of practice readiness.

Method: Posthire and prestart Performance-Based Development System assessments were administered to more than 5,000 newly graduated nurses at a large midwestern academic medical center between July 2010 and July 2015.