Initial Competency Checklist (RN / LPN)
The skills you sign off during orientation, which ones must be observed before you go out alone, and how the form is completed.
Every clinical hire completes an Initial Competency Evaluation during orientation. It has three columns for each skill:
| Column | Who completes it |
|---|---|
| Self Assessment | You — competent yes/no |
| Training Completed | Date and initial when training is done |
| Observer Assessment | Your observer — competent yes/no, with date and initial |
Highlighted skills must be checked off by a Field Supervisor or Territory Manager before you are in the field independently. Turn the completed form in at the end of orientation.
The skills
1. Urinary catheters
- Foley insertion — male and female
- Suprapubic insertion and removal
2. Central catheter lines
3. Enteral feedings
- Bolus
- Continuous
- Removal and insertion of PEG tubes
4. Equipment
- IV pumps
- Enteral pumps
- Oxygen concentrator
- Oxygen tank
- Nebulizer
5. IV therapy
- Peripheral / INT
- Administration of fluids and medications
- Dressing change
6. Irrigations
- Bladder
- Colostomy
7. Suctioning
- Nasal
- Oral
- Tracheal
8. Tracheostomy care
9. TPN
- Administration
- Labs
- Starting and stopping
- Additives
10. Venipuncture
11. Transporting lab specimens
12. FSBG / glucometer
13. PT / INR
14. Wound care
- Aseptic technique
- Sterile technique
15. Standard precautions
- Gloves
- PPE
- CPR resusci-masks
16. OASIS documentation
How to approach it
Be honest in the self-assessment column. Nobody expects a new hire to arrive competent in TPN additives and suprapubic catheter changes, and marking yourself competent in something you have done once under supervision three years ago helps no one — least of all the patient whose home you are standing in at 4pm on a Friday.
The point of the form is to find the gaps early, while there is someone available to teach you. Mark what you do not know, and ask for it.
Signatures
The form is completed with a date of initial completion, your signature and title, and the observer's signature and title.