Evaluation is the process of determining the progress toward attainment of expected outcomes, including effectiveness of care (ANA, 2010). The professional registered nurse (RN) has a responsibility to engage in evaluation activities to maintain and enhance her or his professional performance as part of accountability to the healthcare consumer and to the profession. As part of the evaluation process, the RN identifies and monitors official, valid, and reliable authoritative sources of information for professional practice standards, guidelines, statutes, rules, and regulations that serve as a basis for evaluation of professional performance. Moreover, the RN assumes responsibility and accountability for meeting the criteria for ethical, legal, and professional standards of practice.

While engaging in periodic and systematic self-evaluation of professional performance, the RN compares personal knowledge, skills, and abilities to established criteria. Such an evaluation begins with the collection of many forms of evidence through formal and informal sources (e.g., reflection, performance evaluations, oral situational feedback, and other sources) with the goal of fostering professional growth and development. The RN seeks input related to professional performance from multiple external sources, such as colleagues,
supervisors, mentors, patients, families, and other stakeholders. The RN also uses the information from evaluations to create an action plan for professional growth and development in accordance with professional standards. In fact, the RN participates in multiple activities to evaluate performance in relation to established criteria (e.g., competency assessment and continuing education assessment of knowledge).

By seeking educational opportunities to develop and enhance competencies, the RN engages in professional activities to maintain accurate and current knowledge of requirements for professional practice. In addition, the RN recognizes a collegial responsibility to assist peers in maintaining and developing their professional competencies. To fulfill this responsibility, the RN provides informal constructive feedback (e.g., situational feedback, overall performance feedback, and suggestions for growth and development) to peers.

There are some differences when applying the standard professional practice evaluation to the graduate-level prepared nurse or advanced practice registered nurse (APRN). Those nurses are held to a higher standard of implementation of professional practice evaluation, a standard that reflects their education, roles, responsibilities, and accountability. While drawing on specialty advanced practice performance criteria and other standards for graduate-level prepared nurses, the RN with graduate-level education seeks feedback about her or his professional practice from a broader range of constituents than does the generalist, such as nursing peers, professional colleagues, collaborators, mentors, healthcare consumers, and others. The evaluation includes the effect of her or his professional practice on local, regional, national, and international levels, as well as the effect of contributions to the profession of nursing. She or he is able to translate collected feedback into a career development plan that is periodically reviewed and updated. The APRN or graduate-level prepared nurse seeks opportunities for professional growth and development on the regional, national, and international level. She or he assumes responsibility for lifelong learning as a commitment to providing the highest quality of care to individual patients and populations and to contributing to the nursing profession.