Elsevier Health launches HESI Clinical Practice Readiness Assessment (CPRA): the first assessment of its kind to assess nursing students’ practice readiness

Elsevier Health, a global leader in medical information and data analytics, today launched HESI Clinical Practice Readiness Assessment (CPRA), the first standardized, objective, and reliable assessment for faculty to assess nursing students’ clinical judgment and practice readiness.

The Next Generation National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX^®) brings nursing students’ clinical judgment to the forefront and has increased the focus on clinical preparedness, an area that studies continually cite as a weakness with new nurses. The number of practice-ready students has declined from 23% to 9%¹, and educators need a reliable method to help measure whether soon-to-be nursing graduates have the necessary knowledge and skills to care for patients safely and independently.

Elsevier’s CPRA offers students a method to demonstrate their critical thinking and decision-making skills by exhibiting key nursing competencies as they provide care for virtual patients. Through high-fidelity, screen-based simulations that include questions in the style of the Next Generation NCLEX^® and outcome alignment with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials competency framework, instructors can understand whether students have the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to succeed as new nurses in clinical practice. Building on Elsevier’s trusted resources that support the development of clinical judgment, CPRA serves as a cumulative evaluation administered toward the end of nursing programs to measure practice readiness. When used alongside the HESI Exit Exam, programs gain a valid and reliable method to assess graduating students' preparedness for success on the NCLEX and in practice.

Brent Gordon, President of Nursing & Health Education at Elsevier, said: “Nursing programs that have struggled to measure practice readiness vs. test readiness due to resource constraints and the limitations of currently available assessment frameworks and tools now have a standard, reliable assessment solution with which to measure their students’ clinical competencies. CPRA is essential for nursing student education as an end-of-program assessment."

CPRA includes the following features:

• Performance Reporting that assigns students an overall practice readiness mastery level (emerging, developing, proficient, or advanced), as well as performance level across the five constructs assessed to enable the identification of student strengths and weaknesses, trends across students, and possible curriculum gaps.

• Screen-based, High-fidelity Simulations with corresponding secure assessment questionsoffer a realistic, immersive environment through which students can demonstrate practice readiness by providing care to a variety of virtual patients across the lifespan.

• Digital Standardized Patients™ Scenarios vary in age, race, socioeconomic status, gender identity, and sexual orientation and have a wide range of health concerns. Their health histories and current concerns are designed to support students’ demonstration of nursing competency in a broad spectrum of medical conditions.

• Natural Language Conversation Engine allows students to engage with simulated patients using their own words to gather subjective data and provide therapeutic communication.

CPRA’s standardized and reliable evaluation provides a consistent method of assessing nursing students’ practice readiness through scenarios mapped to five practice readiness constructs: assessment, communication, education, safety, clinical judgment.

Paul Crockett, SVP, Product and Learning Research and Design at Elsevier, said: “Standardization of the simulation experience ensures a consistent measure of practice readiness and a means of identifying trends among students and potential gaps in the curriculum. We are addressing these gaps through innovative training tools for new nurses to give them the skills and confidence they need to provide quality patient care. CPRA takes out the variability and inconsistency and provides an objective rubric of success.”

Elsevier Health works with healthcare educators to prepare students for successful careers in medicine, nursing, and health professions by providing world-class, trusted content and innovative learning tools and analytics that improve educational outcomes and ready them for clinical practice.

To learn more about CPRA, please visit our CPRA website opens in new tab/window.

¹ *Kavanagh, J.M., Sharpnack, P.A., (January 31, 2021) "Crisis in Competency: A Defining Moment in Nursing Education" OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 26, No. 1, Manuscript 2.

About Elsevier

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About Elsevier Health

For more than 140 years, Elsevier has supported the work of researchers and healthcare professionals by providing current, evidence-based information that can help empower students and clinicians to provide the best healthcare possible. Growing from our roots, Elsevier Health applies innovation, facilitates insights, and helps drive more informed decision-making for our customers across global health. We support health providers by providing accessible, trusted evidence-based information to take on the infodemic; prepare more future health professionals with effective tools and resources; provide insights that help clinicians improve patient outcomes; deliver healthcare that is truly inclusive; and supports a more personalized and localized healthcare experience.

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