Flipping Competency Sessions

Abstract

“How do you ensure that nurses maintain competency?” This is one of the most common, and certainly one of the most important questions in acute care clinical settings. The importance of and confusion with this question is exponentially experienced with float teams –nurses who provide direct clinical care in a variety of patient care settings. Competency management is complex and confusing, but of critical importance. One float team at a Nationally ranked acute care pediatric hospital addressed this question in an innovative way, with the pillars of the model being focused on accountability, ownership, choice, and self-direction of our adult learners. The development of the model was then extended and grown within other departments, namely the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, to demonstrate the value of such an accountable model of competency management in highly acute and intense clinical care environments. Nursing is a profession, driven by continuous life-long learning. The professional development literature in the field is replete with theories and applied models founded in adult learning. Adult learners are self-directed, with variable learning preferences, styles, and needs – all of which in turn drive their motivation and role as an active learner. These principles can then develop a learner’s ownership in the education process and drive engagement and accountability, both crucial current topics in acute care settings. A float team sought to address the question of maintaining competency, while challenging archaic beliefs on skills and required training to do so. The professional development specialist of the team, in collaboration with the team manager, came together to lead the team towards thinking creatively about this age-old question. They took the elements of popular and modern competency philosophies to a new level and applied them in a practical way. In doing so, the team has been elevated and transformed to be leaders within their own educational process and are growing and soaring to new competency heights.