Other Titles
Tracking Skills in an Undergraduate Nursing Program with the Clinical Passport [Title Slide]
Abstract
Background: Exposure of undergraduate nursing students to essential clinical skills and the opportunity to perform those skills under appropriate supervision, is often variable and limited. Contributing factors are most likely multifactorial including the increasing time constraints placed upon lab and clinical faculty and the irregular and unstructured way that clinical skill instruction is delivered within some nursing programs. These factors have contributed to variability in students’ clinical preparedness and confidence in performing fundamental nursing skills. The purpose of this project was to develop and evaluate a Clinical Passport for the tracking of clinical skills in an undergraduate nursing program.
Intervention: Utilizing content experts and practice partners, a comprehensive clinical skills checklist known as the Clinical Passport was created to capture student performance across the life of an undergraduate nursing program. This included extensive training of clinical faculty and orientation of students upon admission to the program. Data was collected over a 1-year period to track student understanding and use of the tool.
Results: A total of 309 undergraduate nursing students (N=309) completed surveys at the end of the academic year. The survey included three basic questions related to students’ understanding of the tool; clinical skills documentation; and initiation of the documentation – student or clinical instructor.
A total of 264 students (85%) reported having good understanding of the tool. However, 148 students (48%) did not have any skills documented. Of the 161 students (52%) that did have skills documented, 30% of the time it was initiated by the clinical instructor. Improvement in documentation did improve between semesters with an increase from 14% to 96%.
Conclusion: Findings from the project suggest that while most students understood the purpose and function of the Clinical Passport, consistent utilization was limited. Ongoing faculty engagement and structured integration into clinical courses will be required to enhance effectiveness in tracking student skill development as we move into competency-based education (CBE). Engaging in and promoting interprofessional collaborations between our content experts, clinical faculty, and healthcare partners will allow us to continue our work in this area to improve outcomes for all.
Notes
Reference list included in attached slide deck.
Sigma Membership
Delta Psi at-Large
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Academic-Clinical Partnership, Partnerships in Education, Instrument and Tool Development, Competence, Nursing Education, Clinical Competence, Baccalaureate Nursing Education, Teaching Methods, Educational Outcomes
Recommended Citation
Rogers, Sandra; Hudson, Cindy; and Stallsworth, Jesse B., "The Clinical Passport: Documenting Competency Across Undergraduate Nursing Education" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 36.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2026/presentations_2026/36
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2026
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-04-27
The Clinical Passport: Documenting Competency Across Undergraduate Nursing Education
Washington, DC, USA
Background: Exposure of undergraduate nursing students to essential clinical skills and the opportunity to perform those skills under appropriate supervision, is often variable and limited. Contributing factors are most likely multifactorial including the increasing time constraints placed upon lab and clinical faculty and the irregular and unstructured way that clinical skill instruction is delivered within some nursing programs. These factors have contributed to variability in students’ clinical preparedness and confidence in performing fundamental nursing skills. The purpose of this project was to develop and evaluate a Clinical Passport for the tracking of clinical skills in an undergraduate nursing program.
Intervention: Utilizing content experts and practice partners, a comprehensive clinical skills checklist known as the Clinical Passport was created to capture student performance across the life of an undergraduate nursing program. This included extensive training of clinical faculty and orientation of students upon admission to the program. Data was collected over a 1-year period to track student understanding and use of the tool.
Results: A total of 309 undergraduate nursing students (N=309) completed surveys at the end of the academic year. The survey included three basic questions related to students’ understanding of the tool; clinical skills documentation; and initiation of the documentation – student or clinical instructor.
A total of 264 students (85%) reported having good understanding of the tool. However, 148 students (48%) did not have any skills documented. Of the 161 students (52%) that did have skills documented, 30% of the time it was initiated by the clinical instructor. Improvement in documentation did improve between semesters with an increase from 14% to 96%.
Conclusion: Findings from the project suggest that while most students understood the purpose and function of the Clinical Passport, consistent utilization was limited. Ongoing faculty engagement and structured integration into clinical courses will be required to enhance effectiveness in tracking student skill development as we move into competency-based education (CBE). Engaging in and promoting interprofessional collaborations between our content experts, clinical faculty, and healthcare partners will allow us to continue our work in this area to improve outcomes for all.
Description
Many nursing programs struggle to ensure consistent evaluation and documentation of students’ clinical skill competencies. This presentation will showcase the collaboration between content experts, clinical faculty, and practice partners in the development of a comprehensive tool called the Clinical Passport. Participants will explore lessons learned, outcomes from the first year of implementation, and strategies for improving consistency and clinical skill documentation.