Seeking a clinical competency tool

Clinical competency varies depending on your facility and your unit. Each institution maintains core competencies (blood glucose monitoring, fecal occult blood monitoring, I.V. therapy) and each unit requires specific competencies. For example, a cardiac care unit would have competencies on cardiac output measurement, changing I.V. pressure tubing, timing an intra-aortic balloon pump, ECG interpretation, and administration of fibrinolytics and GP IIB/IIIa inhibitors.

Assess competencies that staff use regularly in practice, or skills that are troublesome or difficult. Determine and adapt competencies per institution. Use procedure manuals from professional nursing associations, such as The AACN Procedure Manual for Critical Care, or other reputable sources such as Lippincott Williams & Wilkins' procedures CD-Rom, which offers a competency section that you can tailor to your institution.

Anne Woods, RN, MSN, CCRN, CRNP