Other Titles
Rising Star Poster/Presentation
Abstract
Background: A lack of unanimity in the assessment of registered nurse (RN) competence can lead to the provision of inconsistent care, increasing the risk of medical errors and compromising patient safety. On the labor and delivery (L&D) unit of a 641-bed academic medical center in Chicago, there is currently no standardized practice for conducting RN competency assessments, leaving room for preceptor subjectivity and bias.
Purpose: To develop and pilot an evidence-based electronic repository, the Competency Assessment Companion (CAC), aimed at standardizing RN competency assessments targeting five clinical domains outlined within the L&D unit’s existing New-Hire Competency Assessment Package (NHCAP): Patient Admission, Fetal Monitoring, Induction & Augmentation of Labor, Promotion of Physiological Labor, and Pain Management.
Methods: Project implementation occurred over 11 weeks, beginning with distribution of an anonymous six-question pre-implementation assessment to 28 L&D RN preceptors and unit leaders. This was followed by five stages of CAC development: Blueprint Generation, Institutional Policy/Procedure Integration, Practice Guideline/Nursing Standard Alignment, Competency Curriculum Development, and Supplemental Resource Inclusion.
Results: Development of the CAC was successful; however, limitations including (1) low pre-implementation assessment response rate (11%), (2) oversight of the extensive scope of work, and (3) time constraints prevented a formal pilot from being implemented on the unit. As such, a comprehensive evaluation was not conducted.
Conclusions: To successfully pilot the resource on the hospital’s L&D unit, authors recommend full CAC standardization across all 43 NHCAP clinical domains.
Sigma Membership
Gamma Phi
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Perinatal Nurses, Competence, Registered Nurses
Recommended Citation
Siegel, Raina Dvorah and Hoeniges, Leah, "The Competency Assessment Companion: An Electronic Resource for Perinatal Nurses" (2025). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 190.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2025/posters_2025/190
Conference Name
36th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Seattle, Washington, USA
Conference Year
2025
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.
Review Type
Invited Presentation
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
The Competency Assessment Companion: An Electronic Resource for Perinatal Nurses
Seattle, Washington, USA
Background: A lack of unanimity in the assessment of registered nurse (RN) competence can lead to the provision of inconsistent care, increasing the risk of medical errors and compromising patient safety. On the labor and delivery (L&D) unit of a 641-bed academic medical center in Chicago, there is currently no standardized practice for conducting RN competency assessments, leaving room for preceptor subjectivity and bias.
Purpose: To develop and pilot an evidence-based electronic repository, the Competency Assessment Companion (CAC), aimed at standardizing RN competency assessments targeting five clinical domains outlined within the L&D unit’s existing New-Hire Competency Assessment Package (NHCAP): Patient Admission, Fetal Monitoring, Induction & Augmentation of Labor, Promotion of Physiological Labor, and Pain Management.
Methods: Project implementation occurred over 11 weeks, beginning with distribution of an anonymous six-question pre-implementation assessment to 28 L&D RN preceptors and unit leaders. This was followed by five stages of CAC development: Blueprint Generation, Institutional Policy/Procedure Integration, Practice Guideline/Nursing Standard Alignment, Competency Curriculum Development, and Supplemental Resource Inclusion.
Results: Development of the CAC was successful; however, limitations including (1) low pre-implementation assessment response rate (11%), (2) oversight of the extensive scope of work, and (3) time constraints prevented a formal pilot from being implemented on the unit. As such, a comprehensive evaluation was not conducted.
Conclusions: To successfully pilot the resource on the hospital’s L&D unit, authors recommend full CAC standardization across all 43 NHCAP clinical domains.
Description
A lack of unanimity in the assessment of registered nurse (RN) competence can lead to the provision of inconsistent care, increasing the risk of medical errors and compromising patient safety. On the labor and delivery unit of a 641-bed academic medical center in Chicago, there is currently no standardized practice for conducting RN competency assessments. This quality improvement project seeks to address this gap in practice through the development of an evidence-based electronic repository.