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Variables Affecting Nursing Students’ Competency Scores Essay

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Variables Affecting Nursing Students’ Competency Scores When an undergraduate nursing student goes in to take a competency test, their performance can be affected by multiple factors. The student could be influenced by how they chose to prepare for the exam, how they were feeling at the time of the test, or even their lifestyle (Cherry & Jacob, 2002). Anxiety that is displayed by a student while testing could be explained as a lack of understanding of the skill needed to be performed, but this may be a false accusation because of the anxiety the student is feeling (Pfeil, 2003). In addition, the way that nursing students may have used their materials to prepare for skills testing also could have an effect their final scoring. …show more content…

The test is performed to validate a new nurse or nursing student’s skills set. American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) accredited tests ensure that nurses’ skills are up to the national standards (ANCC, 2012). When scoring a clinical performance six domains are observed: patient care, medical knowledge, practice based learning, communication skills, professionalism and systems-based practice (Issenberg et al., 2007). Miller explains that the level of competency of a nursing student builds upon itself in levels when assessing a nurse’s knowledge. These levels consist of the student’s ability to: recall basic knowledge of a skill, apply this knowledge in a situation, clearly demonstrate this knowledge, and finally practice this behavior in a real life situation (as cited in Issenberg et al., 2003). Going through this process of competency testing may be rigorous, but it is beneficial because it prepares students for real life scenarios, the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), and ultimately a career as a nurse (Cherry & Jacobs, 2002). At Kennesaw State University’s (KSU) Wellstar School of Nursing, all nursing students are required to go through skills assessments and pass four

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