NURSE301/577 Competency Workshop Notes

Introduction

  • Adapted from Kara Trask (2024).
  • Competency Lecture for final year nursing students in 2025.
  • Presented by Lyndall Nokes.

Fill the basket of knowledge

  • Acknowledges the existing knowledge of the attendees from classrooms and clinical placements.
  • Experience in writing nursing competencies.

Whanaungatanga

  • Introduce yourself.
  • Clinical placement location.
  • Aspirations for the session.
  • Write on writeboard to refer back to these during session for making links.

Learning Outcomes

  • Recap nursing competencies, revisit the domains, look at the changes, introduce the new pou and what this means in the student context.
  • Unpack competencies, competency writing and the student experience.
  • Reflecting on clinical practice, exploring clinical examples and competency writing.
  • Competency writing as a final year student, expectations, capturing moments, and level of detail needed.
  • Workshop capturing moments and competency writing for clinical practice.

NCNZ Competencies

  • Competencies are Nursing Council of New Zealand requirements for all nurses (RNs and ENs).
  • Designed for nurses to provide practice examples in various clinical settings.
  • Focus areas: Māori Health, Cultural Safety, Nursing knowledge, Assessment, Communication, Inter- personal and inter-professional relationships, Evidence based nursing practice and People centred care.
  • Purpose: To demonstrate specific nursing actions to the NZNC for regulatory purposes and ensure public safety.
  • Link to Practice: Connect theoretical knowledge, skills, and processes to actions with patients, whanau, and teams.
  • Highlights 'moments' demonstrating what happened, rationale for care, evidence used, and patient outcome.

NCNZ Domains

  • Overview of the four NCNZ Domains of Practice:
    • Domain One: Professional Responsibility
    • Domain Two: Management of Nursing Care
    • Domain Three: Interpersonal Relationships
    • Domain Four: Interprofessional Health Care and Quality Improvements
  • Reference to the NZNC document outlining competencies using the 4 NCNZ domains.

Student Context - Nursing Competencies

  • Final year students in 2025 will write competencies against the four NCNZ domains.
  • State final examination questions will also be based on the four domains.
  • Introduction of the New Pou for new graduate RNs from 2026.
  • Nursing Council has undergone significant consultation to review the competencies.
  • The competencies are changing from 4 Domains to the 6 New Pou.
  • The New Pou will be introduced in 2025 and take effect in 2026.
  • Focus remains on utilizing the 4 domains for final year nursing students.
  • Awareness of the New Pou is important as these will be coming into effect in the workforce later this year.
  • Teaching will prepare students for these changes, including adding differential diagnosis into practice.

NCNZ Pou

  • Overview of the six NCNZ Pou:
    • POUONE: Te Tiriti o Waitangi, ōritetanga and social justice
    • POUTWO: Kawa whakaruruhau and cultural safety
    • POUTHREE: Whanaungatanga and communication
    • POUFOUR: Pūkengatanga and evidence-informed nursing practice
    • POUFIVE: Manaakitanga and people-centred care
    • POUSIX: Rangatiratanga and leadership
  • Group activity/brainstorm - Pre-reading - what have the noticed with the changes to the New Pou?
  • Discussion around the New Pou and the application to practice.

Final Year Competency Writing

  • Focus on competency writing for final year nursing students in 2025.

Slido Reflection

  • Reflection on successful approaches and challenges in writing competencies.
  • Sharing useful resources.
  • Exploring what has gone well, what they have found challenging and sharing useful resources.
  • Slido Questions
    • What are some successful approaches to writing competencies?
    • What challenges have you faced with competency writing?
    • What are some tips and strategies that you have found valuable?

Helpful Hints

  • Think of one specific example/moment that meets the competency.
  • Avoid generalised statements e.g. I always… with all my patients I…everyday I…
  • Provide enough detail so the reader can see how you are practicing in the example
  • Stick with what you did e.g. I discussed, I supported, In caring for Mrs X, I…
  • Ensure you include - What, why/rationale, evidence and outcome
  • Helpful hints for competency writing - Used from Kara's slides.

Capture the Moment

  • Capture the moment when writing nursing competencies.
  • Specific examples that clearly demonstrate how you met this.
  • Not the generalised examples.
  • It's not always about the 'heoric' moment, when you attended a cardiac arrest, drew up medication and adminsitered (it could be) but it could also be when you utlisied the hui process, whakawhanagatanga and created a therapetic realtionship which meant that the patient/whanau felt safe, heard and in a place where they could recieve equitable/culturally competenct care.
  • How do you capture these moments in practice e.g. reflections, journals and notebook - not identifying factors. If you drop in carpark.
  • When writing moments for being aware of practice, reflection, use of examples in interview/state revision
  • Group Work
    • Discuss good examples of when you have captured the moment for competencies
    • What competencies did these meet.
    • Encourage students to expand their thinking realted to their examples

Unpacking Examples

  • Framework for unpacking examples from the captured moments:
    • What - Explain relevant clinical information/details of what happened An example of this is when I…….
    • Why/Rationale - Explain why you did this? What is your rationale? The reason I did this is because…..
    • Evidence - What did you use to guide your practice/intreaction? e.g. Policies, procedures, frameworks, guidelines etc. Only reference relevant evidence here - No APA receferencing needed. I accessed… I utlised….
    • Outcome - Close the loop. What was the outcome? Was this effective? This meant that…. It was a desirable outcome because… This is where you close the loop.
  • Group activity - Unpack examples from the capture the moment and use this framework to guide this.
  • Look at your examples - think about the what,why/rationale, evidence used and otcome.
  • languaging - words used
  • As a final year student, expect to see that you include the What, Why/rationale, Evidence and Outcome.
  • Now go back into your groups - have you mentioned these key points?

Resources Available

  • NZNC Domains of practice
  • NZNC Pou
  • Moodle Page
  • Your Preceptors, Clinical Areas and Clinical Academic Team etc
  • The clinical academic competency working group developed some reasources - flowchart and a framework to support comeptency writing. You may see these being used in practice.
  • Examples broken down
  • Flowchart - Looks at are you including the what, why/rationale, evidence and outcome? If not, what is missing?
  • Sunset framework - Looks at how you 'capture the moment' at the setting sunset. To capture this, it is around learning those theoretical concepets e.g. hui process, kawawhakaruruhau, evidence based practice, best practice etc and capturing the moment to show what you did, why you did this/rationale, what you used and what the outcome was.

Final Tips

  • WHAT, WHY/RATIONALE, EVIDENCE AND OUTCOME
  • START EARLY
  • DISCUSS WITH YOUR CA - HOW THEY WANT THEM AND WHEN
  • REFLECT ON EXAMPLES WITH YOUR CA
  • CA VISITS ARE NOT USED FOR WRITING COMPETENCIES
  • UTILISE YOUR RESOURCES e.g. MOODLE etc
  • GET YOUR COMPETENCIES TO YOUR CA IN A TIMELY MANNER

References

  • Longmore, M. (2024, February 29). Measure RNs against six Pou — No. 41 competencies, say nurses. Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand.
  • Te Kaunihera Tapuhi o Aotearoa - Nursing Council of New Zealand. (2011, July). Guidelines for Cultural Safety, the Treaty of Waitangi and Maori Health in Nursing Education and Practice.
  • Te Kaunihera Tapuhi o Aotearoa - Nursing Council of New Zealand. (2024, October). Registered nurse standards of competence.
  • Te Kaunihera Tapuhi o Aotearoa - Nursing Council of New Zealand. (2024, June). Nursing Education Programme Standards (2024): Nursing education standards for programmes leading to registraton as enrolled or registered nurse.
  • Te Kaunihera Tapuhi o Aotearoa - Nursing Council of New Zealand. (2025, January). Registered nurse scope of practice.
  • Te Kaunihera Tapuhi o Aotearoa - Nursing Council of New Zealand. (n.d.). FAQs Registered Nurse scope of practice.

Pātai

  • Questions.

Conclusion

  • Whaowhia te kete mātauranga (Fill the basket of knowledge).