Entrustable professional activities in nursing: A concept analysis

OBJECTIVE: Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) is a newly emerging concept. This paper aims at analyzing the concept of “EPAs” to clarify the meaning and to identify its components for optimum understanding of the concept for use in nursing education and future research. METHOD: Three databases – ProQuest, Ovid, and PubMed– were retrieved, and Walker and Avant’s concept analysis approach was used to analyze the concept of EPAs. RESULTS: Based on the analysis, three attributes of EPAs were defined, namely 1) EPAs should be restricted to a limited number of tasks; 2)reflect the experience curve; and 3) include acceptance of responsibility and accountability. The antecedent of EPAs is a holistic and integrated assessment approach. This will eventually lead to anticipated consequences such as a mastery of core competencies and an increase in the level of autonomy. CONCLUSION: The study may contribute to a reduction in the ambiguity of this concept to better apply it in nursing practice.