Assessing nursing competency in the correctional environment: the creation of a self-reflection learning and development tool

The authors discuss the development and implementation of the Justice Health (JH) Core Competencies Survey. This survey was designed to identify education needs for a nurse commencing work with JH and at annual review. The development of the third iteration, formatted as an online self-report survey, is discussed. The results of the online survey in 2006 are discussed. Generally, JH nurses rated their level of skill for each identified competency as high. The tool will be integrated into initial employment at JH as well as at a nurse's annual review to identify learning and development needs for the correctional environment.