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practice (Hermann, 2004). Successful integration of liberal and nursing education provides
graduates with knowledge of human cultures, including spiritual beliefs, as well as the physical
and natural worlds supporting an approach to practice. The study of history, critical race
theories, critical theories of nursing, critical digital studies, planetary health and climate science,
politics, public policies, policy formation, fine arts, literature, languages, and the behavioral,
biological, and natural sciences are key to the understanding of one’s self and others, civil
readiness, and engagement and forms the basis for clinical reasoning and subsequent
clinical judgments.
A liberal education creates the foundation for intellectual and practical abilities within the
context of nursing practice as well as for engagement with the larger community, locally
and globally. A hallmark of liberal education is the development of a personal value system
that includes the ability to act ethically regardless of the situation and where students are
encouraged to define meaningful personal and professional goals with a commitment to
integrity, equity, and social justice. Liberally educated graduates are well prepared to integrate
knowledge, skills, and values from the arts, sciences, and humanities to provide safe, quality
care; advocate for patients, families, communities, and populations; and promote health equity
and social justice. Equally important, nursing education needs to ensure an understanding of
the intersection of bias, structural racism, and social determinants with healthcare inequities
and promote a call to action.
Competency-Based Education
Competency-based education is a process whereby students are held accountable to the
mastery of competencies deemed critical for an area of study. Competency-based education
is inherently anchored to the outputs of an educational experience versus the inputs of the
educational environment and system. Students are the center of the learning experience,
and performance expectations are clearly delineated along all pathways of education and
practice. Across the health professions, curriculum, course work, and practice experiences
are designed to promote responsible learning and assure the development of competencies
that are reliably demonstrated and transferable across settings. By consistently assessing
their own performance, students develop the ability to reflect on their own progress towards
the achievement of learning goals and the ongoing attainment of competencies required
for practice.
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, competencybased education produces learning and behavior that endures, since it encourages conscious
connections between knowledge and action. Learners who put knowledge into action grasp
the interrelatedness of their learning with both theoretical perspectives and the world of their
professional work. Achieving a specific competency gives meaning to the theoretical and assists
in understanding and taking on a professional identity.
Further, today’s students increasingly are taking responsibility for their own learning and, varied
as they are in age and experience, respond to active learning strategies. Active learning involves
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THE ESSENTIALS: CORE COMPETENCIES FOR PROFESSIONAL NURSING EDUCATION