CCP Instructions & Booklet
Identify your learning needs utilizing the standards of practice and indicators in the Continuing Competence Program (CCP) booklet at the bottom of this page.
Four (4) self-assessment tools are included in the Continuing Competence Program (CCP) booklet. These encompass your domains (or areas of practice).
- Direct Clinical Practice
- Educator
- Administrator
- Researcher
A domain is a description of the primary responsibility of your nursing practice. It is used to describe the main area of expertise used in nursing practice in that domain or practice area.
There are five (5) Psychiatric Nursing Standards of Practice. A standard may be defined as a "benchmark of achievement” based on a desired level of excellence. All standards of practice provide a guide to the knowledge, skills, judgment, and attitudes that are needed to practice safely. They reflect a desired and achievable level of performance against which actual performance can be compared. Their primary purpose is to promote, guide, and direct professional psychiatric nursing practice.
Under each standard of practice, you will find a number of indicators that help you determine how to meet the standard of practice. An indicator is a statement to help illustrate how the standards can be met. There are five (5) psychiatric nursing standards of practice, four (4) domains (or areas of practice), and indicators under each standard, which are not meant to be all-inclusive.
Take your Continuing Competence Program (CCP) booklet, open it to your domain of practice, and review the four standards of practice/indicators of practice. Reflect on your practice during this review. Identify your areas of strengths and any areas of improvement or enhancement you would like to work at achieving. Prioritize your learning needs which can be either knowledge or skill-based, and choose standard(s) and indicator(s) to develop a learning objective(s) for your practice enhancement plan. The CRPNA has not determined a “number” of required objectives to be recorded.
Fill in your Continuing Competence Program (CCP) form with your learning objective, your practice domain, your indicator number that supports your objective and your strategies to help you achieve your objective in the upcoming year.
Developing your learning objective(s)
When writing your learning objective, think in terms of:
- Specific – observable action or behaviour (use active verbs)
- Measurable – be able to define your end results in qualitative or quantitative terms
- Attainable – do you have the required resources or strategies to obtain your objective
- Relevant – how will this learning objective enhance your practice or increase your knowledge or skill base (also, ask how are your strategies relevant to helping you achieve your objective)
How will my learning objective enhance my practice?
If you achieve your objective(s) will your practice knowledge improve or will your clinical skill base be enhanced?
This section is completed using your LAST YEAR'S Practice Enhancement Plan
Section 4 – Evaluate - your LAST YEAR'S Practice Enhancement Plan and indicate if you have met or changed your objectives / goals
Section 5 – Barriers – if you encountered any barriers as you worked to achieving your learning objective(s) (last year) what were they and how did you attempt to resolve them, and were they resolvable? Did these barriers prevent achievement of your objective; did you have to rewrite an objective because of these barriers? Did you achieve your new objective if you had to rewrite an objective?
Section 6 - Professional Portfolio – A portfolio is simply a place to store all your documents. Please RETAIN COPIES of your Self Assessment and your Psychiatric Nursing Enhancement Plan for audit purposes. Please RETAIN COPIES of all resources used in achieving your learning objectives
CCP Booklet (Complete booklet with instructions)
You can also print individual sections of the CCP Booklet:
Happy National Nursing Week 2025
May 12, 2025Practice Direction – Medication Management
February 1, 2025
