New Nurse Practitioner Competencies: Skill Development and Reflective Writing Rubrics

New nurse practitioners (NPs) must be safe and effective in their first job. Some new NPs have reported that they feel unprepared for transition to the NP role and that not all physicians and employers understand the NP role. Rubrics (scoring tools specifying expectations for successful performance) help ensure successful transitions to practice. Rubrics clarify performance expectations and can reduce confusion around role. Two rubrics for assessing NP performance, 1 focused on established NP role competencies and 1 on reflective writing, were developed using the novice-to-expert framework for skill development to facilitate successful transition of new NPs into practice.