Comparing Simulated Nursing Performance to Actual Practice

Between 2007 and 2013, the Arizona Board of Nursing (BON), a community college, and a university developed the Nursing Performance Profile (NPP), a legally defensible competency evaluation using simulation. Using the NPP, the board evaluated the competency of nurses who were reported to the BON for unsafe practice. Then, we compared the unsafe behaviors revealed by the NPP evaluation with those reported to the BON in the original complaint and investigative reports (IRs). The comparative analysis revealed remarkable consistency between the IRs and the NPP findings.