Early in my nursing career, I was handed a 25‑page checklist. It listed all the things I needed to “know” to work in my role. I remember sitting with my preceptor, moving line by line: Yep, we talked about this. Yep, we covered that. Yes, we looked at that piece of equipment. Yes, I did that once. Boxes checked. Orientation complete.

At the time, neither of us paused to ask whether approaching orientation this way actually meant I could apply it safely later, under pressure, while working independently. Looking back, I don’t think my preceptor misunderstood her role, and I don’t think it was the organization's fault. I think we were all operating inside a system that framed competency as compliance, something to be completed, documented, and filed away to be pulled out as proof if that day ever came.

Over the past several months, we’ve been exploring engagement from multiple angles.

• With Dr. Katie Boston‑Leary, we talked about how engagement is defined and measured.
• With Dr. Dan Lose, we examined the organizational structures needed to create environments where nurses want to engage.
• With Rebecca Marsh, we explored the concept of healthy work environments, what they are, and how to build them.

This month, we moved to the next component. Once the environment exists, once structures, culture, and leadership are in place, what do nurses actually need in order to engage? For me, I believe this starts with competency.

When I talk about competency, I’m talking about knowledge, skills, and abilities to do the job we hired someone to do. I strongly believe that without competency, engagement can’t happen. Leaders often say they want nurses to engage beyond task completion, to think critically, improve systems, and contribute ideas. But if a nurse is expending all of their cognitive energy trying to safely complete core competencies, they’ll never have the space to think beyond them.

That’s why my conversation with Donna Wright was so important. Donna challenges the way many of us were taught to think about competency. As she shared her thinking, it pushed me to look more critically at the systems many of us have simply accepted as “the way it’s done.” Talking with her made me realize how much of my own early experience was shaped by systems that weren’t designed to build professional practice, but to satisfy external pressures.

She also named something we don’t always say out loud: much of competency management in healthcare is shaped by trust issues and driven by fear. Fear of regulatory requirements, audits, or getting it wrong. In that kind of system, it’s easy to default to the same competencies, repeated year after year, using a one‑size‑fits‑all approach that checks boxes so there is ‘proof’ we did it. The problem is that this type of system doesn’t build engagement—if anything, it can lead to the opposite.

Instead, Donna reminds us that competency should describe the minimum expectation, and then it becomes a continuum that nurses move along as they grow. At the heart of her model is ownership, empowerment, and accountability. Rather than giving an exhaustive list of tasks or expecting every nurse to demonstrate competency in exactly the same way, she emphasizes that the how of your competency model is vital to engagement.

She starts with identifying competencies that actually matter and involving nurses in selecting them. When nurses have a voice in determining the competencies that reflect the real needs of their unit, the process becomes more meaningful and relevant. And then comes choice. When nurses are given options (not just return demonstration) to show what they know and how they apply their knowledge in their work environment, competency moves from compliance to something that truly begins to build professional practice.

After reflecting on our conversation, I connected Donna’s points to several of the elements we will discuss over the next several months.

First, at the most basic level, competency creates safety for the patient, nurse, and organization.

Next, how we validate competency builds belonging. It sends a message that we see you, we see the work you’re doing, and we value your perspective. This is not done by handing nurses a standardized checklist. It is done by involving them in identifying the competencies that matter most on their unit and in their practice. That involvement creates ownership, empowerment, and shared accountability among the team.

And finally, the act of validating competency builds esteem. Not the competency checklist, but the opportunity to write an exemplar, capturing the story of how they advocated for a patient or solved a problem no one else saw. It gives nurses the space to claim their expertise and acknowledge the good work that too often goes unnoticed.

In short, while the what of competency definitely matters, it’s the how of competency that really moves it beyond compliance and starts to shape engagement.

Nicole Weathers, DNP, RN, NPD-BC 
Iowa Online Nurse Residency Program Director 
nicole-weathers@uiowa.edu
Wanting a Program Overview? Need to schedule a meeting? Book time with Nicole 
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