Progressive Assessment and Competency Evaluation Framework for Integrating Simulation in Nurse Practitioner Education

Competencies for nurse practitioner students have been published with the goal of preparing graduates who are ready to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex health care system. Standardized preclinical assessment of graduate-level competencies have been suggested as a means to optimize the student experience in clinical rotations and maximize the preceptor’s time toward preparing students for the transition to independent practice. The main objectives of this study are to describe progressive assessment and competency evaluation as an integral framework for integration of simulation in graduate-level curriculum and present the feasibility and challenges to consider during implementation of Progressive Assessment and Competency Evaluation‒directed simulations. •Nurse practitioner competencies help to level program outcomes across institutions.•Educators often preload didactic knowledge without attention to psychomotor skills.•Progressive Assessment and Competency Evaluation was developed to fill this gap.•Progressive Assessment and Competency Evaluation guides the integration of preclinical simulations in graduate curriculum.•Preclinical assessments can be designed to evaluate graduate-level competencies.•Standardized preclinical simulations help to maximize time with student preceptors.