For several years, many nursing education institutions have implemented the recommendations made in 2003 by the Institute of Medicine. Some have redesigned the structure of their program to integrate a competency-based approach. What is a competence in this context? The purpose of this concept analysis is to clarify the meaning of the concept of competence from its recent use in nursing education. Rodgers’ method of concept analysis was selected as it is relevant for exploring this concept. A literature review in nursing was conducted using the CINAHL database. After analyzing the results, although no consensus appeared in the literature, it seems that a competence can be defined as a formal action of systemic skills, which is contextualized and is continuously developing. This definition differs from the behaviorist one that is sometimes used, where competences are synonymous with technical skills. To continue the development of this concept, it would be interesting to explore how it has evolved in other disciplines, such as education sciences or medicine.