Application of nursing core competency standard education in the training of nursing undergraduates

To evaluate the effectiveness of nursing core competency standard education in undergraduate nursing training. Forty-two nursing undergraduates from the class of 2007 were recruited as the control group receiving conventional teaching methods, while 31 students from the class of 2008 were recruited as the experimental group receiving nursing core competency standard education. Teaching outcomes were evaluated using comprehensive theoretical knowledge examination and objective structured clinical examination. The performance in the health information collection, physical assessment, scenario simulation and communication in the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group (p < 0.05). Nursing core competency standard education is helpful for the training of nursing students' core competencies.