This position paper is intended to examine an assessment dilemma that is problematic to adult teaching in general but particularly problematic for the non-traditional learner wishing to enter the nursing profession. It is the position of this report that such dilemma is particularly problematic for the adult/non-traditional learner who enters the nursing education arena subsequent to post-secondary, collegiate education and particularly graduate/ professional school. Such problems that are going unaddressed by current faculty (1) create unnecessary barriers to entry / progression into the nursing profession; (2) create undue work and burden on nursing faculty; and (3) create unnecessary strain on entire nursing programs that can be eliminated with some foresight and re-thinking on the part of nursing faculty. The methodology utilized for this report was a combination of (1) an extensive literature review spanning several decades leading up to the emergence of the concept curriculum in nursing education; (2) an analysis of literature review in relation to what is known as best practices in teaching and learning, focused on the relation to nursing education; and (3) an analysis of current literature relative to conceptual teaching both in general and nursing education.