Nurse Education and the Assessment of Nurse Competence

Abstract

The issue in which I am interested is the assessment of nurse knowledge, skills and competence, and ways in which formative assessment can promote more effective learning. In this critical review of the relevant literature I consider some of the changes in nurse education, first in the UK in general, and then in the particular context of the University of Londrina, Parana, Brazil. I will then relate these changes to broader issues of professional education, and in particular developments in assessment in higher education. Finally, I will consider some of the challenges faced by nurses in the current time and how the new curriculum for nurse education and models of assessment within it can enhance the learning and development of newly qualified nurses.