Bruin Brief 2021-07-16: AACN Essentials

Today is a pop quiz about the new AACN publication, The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education.

Quiz Questions

1. True or False: The AACN Essentials document offers a framework of expectations for graduates of university-based nursing programs that we can choose to apply to our nursing programs at UCLA.

2. True or False:  The new Essentials has separate outcome competencies leveled for baccalaureate, master’s, and DNP programs.

3. True or False:  The new Essentials expects competency-based nursing education outcomes.

4. True or False:  We have some work to do to fit our curriculum to the new Essentials expectations.

Quiz Answers

1. True and False.  There is no hard-and-fast rule that says we have to adopt the AACN Essentials. But it’s wise to use the AACN Essentials for at least three reasons. First, we can map our program outcomes to national expectations for nurses. Second, we can justify our program structure and outcomes for accreditation. Third, the Essentials “bridge the gap between education and practice,….allows all nurses to have a shared vision,….[and] expresses a unified voice that represents the nursing profession” (p. 1).

2. False. Unlike past years when there were Essentials publications for each program, we now have a single document. “The domains and competencies are identical for both entry and advanced levels of education, [yet] the sub-competencies build from entry into professional nursing practice to advanced levels of knowledge and practice. The intent is that any curricular model should lead to the ability of the learner to achieve the competencies” (p. 1).

3. True.  The Essentials are competency based now because “advances in learning approaches and technologies, understanding of evolving student learning styles and preferences, and the move to outcome-driven education and assessment all point to a transition to competency-based education. This learning approach is linked to explicitly defined performance expectations, based on observable behavior, and requires frequent assessment using diverse methodologies and formats. Designed in this fashion, competency based education produces learning and behavior that endures, since it encourages conscious connections between knowledge and action” (p. 4).

4. True. The Curriculum Committee and academic leaders in the school will learn more and share with the faculty. The work of curricular change will be something the entire faculty works toward over the next couple of years.