Part 2: A New Way to See the Essentials: The Shift That Changed Everything for Me

Early in my curriculum work, I downloaded the AACN worksheet and started filling in boxes from the top — Domain by Domain. It was tedious, and honestly, it didn’t make much sense. In every course I included every Domain.

CCNE Accreditation Standards require addressing the DCCs – Domains, Concepts, Competencies.

Yes note the small ‘s’.

But the big ‘S’ – the Subcompetencies is where the real work lies.

The real CBE transformation happens in the big ‘S”. My advice…. go straight for the subcompetencies.

Course objectives drive mapping to the Subcompetency level — not the reverse.

Subcompetencies provide the specificity that Domains and even Competencies can’t. They clarify intent. They stop us from mapping by assumption- where every DCC is placed in every course- turning mapping into a meaningless exercise that fails to build true competency-based education. And they make something crystal clear that’s easy to miss:

An undergraduate EBP course and a graduate EBP course should not look the same. The subcompetencies make that distinction impossible to ignore — and they give faculty the language to defend why.

If you’re in nursing education — faculty, curriculum lead, program director, or accreditation coordinator — I’d love to know:

Compliance… or competency? What’s driving your mapping?

Next in The Essential Series: Part 3: Are Concepts the New Curriculum Threads?