Background: This study reports on the process of competence assessment in undergraduate nursing programmes in New Zealand.
Aim: To identify current competence assessment practice and determine how competence assessment is constructed in order to reflect student development.
Design: This research utilised a qualitative exploratory-descriptive design.
Participants: Nurse educators from nine tertiary institutions opted to participate in the research.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach.
Results: Three themes are reported in this article; clinical assessment pedagogy, measure of competence, and relational assessment practice. There was significant variation between and within institutions in conducting competence assessment while scaffolding competence assessment throughout the degree programme was highlighted as a challenge.
Conclusions: This study highlights the need for an assessment process that allows for the developing competence of nursing students and competencies that are designed to adequately assess students in each year of the nursing programme.
Keywords: baccalaureate; clinical assessment; clinical competence; clinical education; education; nursing; students.