A longitudinal study of portfolio use to assess the competence of undergraduate student nurses

Abstract

With the advent of the new BSc programmes, An Bord Altranais, the regulatory body for professional nursing would no longer host what was known as the 'state final examinations'. Until this time, decisions on whether or not to grant a licence to practice were based on success in these examinations and in clinical assessments. Although the BSc curriculum development teams in third level institutions wanted autonomy, such diversity in the education of student nurses would not lend itself to a unified national standard for entry level practice and the granting of a licence to practice by An Bord Altranais.