A comparison of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's basic principles and benefits of competency-based nursing education and Fink's taxonomy

For over a century, Bloom's hierarchical taxonomy has been the gold standard for writing objectives for curricula and courses in programs of nursing. Development of courses and curricula with demonstration of nursing competencies as the outcome requires a more robust taxonomy. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education requires nursing students to meet competencies in assertive leadership, personal development around adapting to ambiguity and change, and professional life-long learning. The purpose of this review was to compare Fink's taxonomy with the AACN basic principles and benefits of competency-based education. In conclusion, Fink's taxonomy of significant learning experiences provides an integrative framework to meet competencies of foundational knowledge, application, and integration of knowledge. Moreover, Fink's taxonomy includes additional areas of learning needed in nursing education such as learning how to learn, leadership and interpersonal skills such as in a human dimension of learning, caring about learning, and the ability to adapt to change. Educators should consider all kinds of learning for nursing practice and should reconsider the use of a hierarchical and content-centered teaching approach, with learning objectives written only at the cognitive level.