This study aims at eliciting a reflection on a competency-based education for nurses by understanding alternation as a necessary condition for an articulation between theory and practice, as well as at discussing some issues related to competency-based education and professionalization. We have searched to widen up our understanding of what competencies are and of an articulation between theory and practice. We have discussed the notion of professionalization and some ways of working on competencies by following different approaches and distinctive objectives, and we have reached an understanding about competencies, how to act in some situations, what leads to educational commitment, and what calls for contextualized and complex thought. Finally, we suggest alternation as a device for professional nurse education.
nurse education; competency; theory and practice; alternation; professionalization