Nurse Residents Research Articles

Emergency Nurse Residency Program Evaluation

The purpose of this mixed method descriptive study was to perform a program evaluation on an emergency nurse residency program. The study identified leaders' goals, objectives, and outcomes and the nurse residents' perceptions of the program, including whether they felt prepared to make the transition into their new role. The program evaluation revealed that the nurse residents felt confident, secure, and prepared to function as well-rounded emergency nurses after completing the emergency nurse residency program, in congruence with leaders' objectives.

Nurse residents' first-hand accounts on transition to practice

BackgroundThe first year of nursing practice is critical to developing new graduate nurses into safe practitioners. Many new graduate nurses leave the profession because of job stress, lack of organizational support, poor nurse-physician relations, unreasonable workloads, uncivil work environments, and difficulty transitioning into practice. In response, Nurse Residency programs reflect an organizational commitment to support new nurses, allowing them time and support to become competent professional nurses. Purpose and methodThirty-seven new graduate nurses employed in a hospital in a northwestern state participated in a descriptive qualitative study to examine the “lived experience” as new nurses and to assess the level of job satisfaction during the first year of their nursing practice. ResultsNew graduate nurses described themes related to their first year of nursing practice including rhythm in the chaos, feeling valued, stress from ‘not knowing’, life-long learning, and preserving the profession. ConclusionsHaving supportive preceptors and nursing staff, feeling valued by the health care team, and being perceived as a vital member of the organization contributed to job satisfaction and overall commitment to the profession.

Outcomes of a Simulation-Based Nurse Residency Program

Background This novel nurse residency program extensively used human patient simulation to assist recent nurse graduates in becoming safe and competent clinicians. Method Novice nurses practiced clinical skills and developed competencies using scenario-based simulations specifically designed to replicate urgent clinical situations. Results The use of human patient simulators and simulated scenarios rapidly increased the competencies of the nurse residents and their confidence and self-assessed readiness to provide care to patients, as well as decreasing length of orientation and rate of turnover. Conclusion Nurse residency programs integrating simulation offer a consistent, replicable orientation process and support the ability to evaluate competency development, provide standardized experiences and evaluation, and detect and remediate learning needs.

Postbaccalaureate Nurse Residency: EBP in Action

It is no secret that health care in the United States is in need of reform. Great attention has been paid over time to the problems of errors in medical and nursing practice, cost vs quality, and evidence needed to improve patient outcomes. We like to think that health care in the United States is well advanced, but we have yet to tackle significant problems that have plagued our country for so many years. Transformation is certainly the theme of the day! We have a long way to go to heed the call made by Florence Nightingale in 1863 when she stated, while admitting to the full extent the great value of hospital improvements of recent years, a vast deal of suffering, and some at least of the mortality, in these establishments is avoidable (p. 7). Evidence-based practice (EBP) is critical to changing our evolving health care delivery and reimbursement systems. Examining how nursing faculty are incorporating EBP in the curriculum for student nurses and how clinically based nursing professionals are using EBP are essential to understanding how nursing will contribute to improved patient outcomes. The Health Professions Report (2003) describes the shortcomings of today's health professions, citing much-needed competencies related to the provision of patientcentered care and the employment of EBP. How is EBP used in nursing education and service? How are nursing faculty transforming curricula? Is nursing service taking the important steps in the clinical setting so that professional nurses and other members of the health care team formulate and apply evidence in their practice? The Postbaccalaureate Nurse Residency program at Westchester Medical Center (WMC) serves as an example of how academic and practice partners are approaching these kinds of questions. The Postbaccalaureate Nurse Residency Program grew out of an interest in improving patient care by providing additional training and support to new baccalaureate graduates. The goal of the program is to develop competent professionals to provide patient care leadership at the bedside ( Commission on Collegiate Education [CCNE], 2008 , p. 6). The curriculum developed through a partnership of the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (CCNE, 2009 ). The program is based on partnerships between accredited acute care hospitals and at least one accredited academic nursing program. The residency builds on the The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Practice (American Association of Colleges of [AACN], 2008). During the program, nurse residents develop skills in decision-making, EBP, clinical leadership, and lifelong career planning as they advance their commitment to professional nursing The Lienhard School of (LSN) has worked for several years to ensure that baccalaureate nursing graduates have a strong foundation in EBP. While curriculum reform was initiated in the graduate Family Nurse Practitioner Program, this was soon followed by the undergraduate program. Baccalaureate didactic coursework is framed within an EBP context, and numerous clinical opportunities throughout the program extend that focus. The 2008 AACN Essentials for Baccalaureate Education for Professional Practice lists as its third essential Scholarship for Evidence- Based Practice. The LSN undergraduate curriculum has been revised to be consistent with the revised Essentials , and has as one of its expected student learning outcomes, Apply nursing theory and research in an evidence-based approach to nursing practice. Likewise, in the Nurse Residency program at WMC, EBP is an important basis for advancing safe, quality patient care. Introduced to nurse residents during their orientation period, the concept of EBP is a thread discussed throughout their year-long program. The EBP curriculum at the University and Medical Center reinforces and guides the nurse residents through developing and presenting a final EBP project. …

Preliminary outcomes of a local residency programme for new graduate registered nurses

The present study reports preliminary findings regarding new graduate nurses participating in a year-long local residency programme at two hospitals in Las Vegas, NV. Nurse resident programmes are purported to increase the level of clinical competency and professional transition in new graduate registered nurses (RNs) and to decrease first-year turnover rates. The effectiveness of this programme was assessed using data of the first two cohorts participating in this new residency programme. Clinical competencies, anxiety, stress, professional transition and retention were measured on 55 nurse residents who have participated in the nurse residency programme. The findings indicate improved clinical competency throughout the programme, a decreased sense of threat, and improved communication and leadership skills. The first-year cohort's employment retention rate was 78%, and the second-year cohort is presently 96%. The results of this study demonstrate the positive impact of a year-round residency programme for new graduate RNs. Implications for nursing management The need for a consistent nurse workforce demands that new graduates be transitioned into competent practitioners as soon as possible. Nurse residency programmes can provide this support and decrease replacement costs involved in high turnover.

Retaining the Next Generation of Nurses: The Wisconsin Nurse Residency Program Provides a Continuum of Support

Because of the high costs associated with new graduate nurse turnover, an academic-service partnership developed a nurse residency program that provides a comprehensive support system that spans 15 months. Now in its fourth year, involving more than 50 urban and rural hospitals of varying sizes and geographic locations, the program provides formalized preceptor training, monthly daylong educational sessions, and mentoring by clinical coaches. Key factors contributing to the success of this program are a dedicated, cohesive planning team of individuals who embrace a common agenda, stakeholder buy-in, appropriate allocation of resources, and clear articulation of measures of success, with associated data collection. Successful elements of the monthly educational sessions are the use of interactive teaching methods, inclusion of content tailored to the unique needs of the nurse residents, and storytelling to facilitate learning from practice. Finally, training to advance the skill development of preceptors, coaches, educators, and facilitators has provided organizations with enduring benefits.

A Nurse Residency Program for Competency Development Using Human Patient Simulation

A new graduate registered nurse residency program integrating human patient simulation was developed at an academic medical center. The program focused on orientation through skill-based learning, critical thinking, human factors engineering, and patient safety using simulated experiences for a wide variety of high-risk, low-frequency, as well as high-frequency, commonly occurring clinical events and situations. Structured evaluations demonstrated that simulation serves as a highly effective strategy for developing competency, confidence, and readiness for entry-into-practice. It strengthened assessment and clinical skills, and enhanced nurse residents' ability to apply critical thinking to simulated patient scenarios. The time and cost of orientation decreased while recent graduate nurse satisfaction with orientation was high.