Nurse Practitioner Program Curriculum Development: A Competency-based Approach

Competency-based education and assessment is commonplace in many health care disciplines, and is receiving increased attention in nurse practitioner programs. Competency-based education is an outcomes-based approach to the design, implementation, assessment, and evaluation of an education program using an organizing framework of competencies. In this article we describe the factors driving the paradigm shift to competency-based curricular design. We offer a general overview of the basics of a curricular matrix and one process and approach to developing a competency-based curriculum.