Clinical Nursing Skills & Competency Record

Clinical courses are considered to be a progressive competency. The expectation of students is growth from a beginning/developing level at the beginning of the course, to a competent or accomplished level at the end of the course. The Clinical Nursing Skills/ Competency Record is a tool to help students maintain a record of the nursing skills and learning experiences in the lab and/or the clinical setting. This checklist must be kept current. 

Any necessary skills will be checked off in the skills lab. These skills must be mastered in the lab prior to performing in the clinical setting. If necessary, remediation will be required at a time specified by the instructor.

The student is expected to be progressively completing listed skills. This record will be reviewed by the instructor periodically. It is the responsibility of the student to keep the clinical instructor informed of skills/experiences needed. Faculty will provide specific instructions for use of this handbook.

The Clinical Skills Sheet should be printed at the beginning of each semester. During the semester the student should strive to complete listed tasks and have the preceptor nurse or the clinical instructor sign off successful completion of each task. Students should collect the signed skills sheet before the end of their shift and upload it with all weekly clinical paperwork. This must be completed to avoid a 5-point deduction for each offense.

It is the student’s responsibility to maintain this record and to use it in collaboration with the faculty to seek appropriate learning opportunities. The student may enter the date and the instructor and/or qualified RN will initial the skill. Upon completion of the program, this record will be placed in the student’s permanent file.

As part of ongoing formative student evaluation, each week the student is in the clinical facility, a preceptor/instructor weekly clinical evaluation form will be completed. The weekly scoring is derived from direct patient care, documentation demonstrated in assigned weekly clinical packets, and professionalism/ethics during clinical. A formal final evaluation may also be completed with low performing students at the faculty’s discretion. If a student receives 2 weekly evaluations with a grade below 80, a student action plan will be initiated to formally notify the student of expected improvements and a timeline to allow for remediation.