Staff development challenge: assuring nurses' competency in quality assessment and improvement.

Nursing administrators and nursing staff development educators face a challenge to insure that nursing staff are prepared to participate in quality assurance, assessment and improvement. This challenge is influenced by the evolving nature of quality assessment and improvement and the need to stay current in the field. This article suggests that staff development for quality assessment and assurance is a feasible approach to remedy the gap between the educational preparation and clinical practice expectations of nurses. Considerations to provide nurses with staff development offerings about quality assessment and improvement are discussed. Program topics are suggested.