Evaluating Nurse Practitioner Student Competencies: Application of Entrustable Professional Activities

Background: A knowledge gap exists regarding the best methods for assessment of nurse practitioner (NP) student clinical competence. Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) translate competencies into practice and provide a potential framework for NP clinical competency assessment. This study piloted the use of an EPA-based method of assessing NP student clinical competence via simulated clinical experiences. Method: Six EPAs were mapped to NP core competencies. Faculty designed clinical scenarios to assess student clinical performance using EPA-based rubrics. Online family nurse practitioner students rotated through simulated clinical scenarios during an on-campus residency. Faculty assigned a utility score to each EPA activity description. Results: Student EPA scores paralleled time-based program requirements. Faculty found over 70% of EPA activity descriptions to be useful or requiring minor editing in assessing students. Conclusion: This study is an important step toward the creation of a standardized, competency-based process for NP clinical performance assessment. [ J Nurs Educ . 2020;59(12):714–720.]