<p> The Dedicated Education Unit (DEU) is a model of clinical teaching which has gained widespread acceptance and national recognition as an innovative method of clinical education for undergraduate nursing students (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2010; Warner &amp; Burton, 2009). The primary goals and benefits of the DEU for schools of nursing are expansion of educational capacity within a nursing faculty shortage and increased clinical placements while providing a high quality experiential learning environment (Murray, Crain, Meyer, McDonough, &amp; Schweiss, 2010). Registered nurses (RNs) are the key component in the DEU clinical teaching model and serve as preceptors and valuable role models. Nurse preceptors are caught in challenging situations where they experience significant pressures to deliver quality nursing care under heavy workloads and are responsible for teaching and supervising students. The current quasi-experimental, investigational study reveals the relationships between the DEU model and the quality of patient care. Utilizing the nursing sensitive indicators of nursing hours per patient day &mdash; Registered Nurse, hospital acquired pressure ulcer rates, patient fall rates, and medication error rates, the study found no negative impact on the quality of patient care provided on DEUs despite the increased workload for precepting registered nurses.</p>

<p> Nursing leaders continue to voice concerns over new nurse graduates&rsquo; performance problems. Gaps in new nurse graduate practice and performance problems have been identified primarily using nursing theoretical models. The key objective of this research was to examine new nurse performance through the lens of a human performance model. Using Gilbert&rsquo;s (1978) updated Behavior Engineering Model (Chevalier, 2003), this study examined the performance of acute pediatric new nurse graduates with 3-15 months of experience in an urban Northeast United States hospital. The New Graduate Nurse Performance Survey (The Nurse Executive Center, 2007) and the updated PRObing BEhavior (Chevalier &amp; Hersey, 2005) questionnaire were used to assess how new nurse graduates rated their performance, work environment, and individual behavior, as well as to identify the environmental and individual factors that support and inhibit their performance. Using a mixed method design, quantitative and qualitative data were collected by means of a web-based survey. Findings revealed new nurse graduates were satisfied with their clinical performance and clinical skills and rated their work environment and individual behavior as satisfactory. Communication, receiving adequate resources, a supportive work setting, and organizational incentives supported new nurse graduates&rsquo; work environment. Inadequate feedback, in addition to challenges with preceptors and patient care technicians, inhibited new nurse graduates&rsquo; performance. Clinical training programs were found to support new nurse graduates&rsquo; performance, whereas difficulties with managing job-related stress, lack of self-care, and strained working relationships with support staff, inhibited their performance. Implications from this study are that nursing leaders and nursing educators should assess the unique needs of their new nurse graduates. This would allow healthcare organizations to design and implement tailored strategies and programs to support their novice nurses&rsquo; specialized needs. In addition, nursing leaders can tackle barriers to their new nurse graduates&rsquo; nursing practice and role transition. Further studies could explore the hardships new nurse graduates experienced with support staff during their transition by looking at the dynamics, interactions, and working relationships between novice nurses and support staff. Future studies using Gilbert&rsquo;s BEM (1978), Chevalier&rsquo;s updated BEM (2003), Gilbert&rsquo;s PROBE model (1982, as cited in Hersey and Chevalier, 2005), and Hersey and Chevalier&rsquo;s updated PROBE Model (2005), or other human performance models could be used in the nursing field to investigate different aspects of new nurse graduates&rsquo; performance, role, and workflow. Another area for future consideration is examining pediatric nurses at other stand-alone pediatric acute care hospitals and non-specialty acute care hospitals among general clinical nurses to determine what work factors present challenges for them within the work environment. </p>

<p> The problem addressed in this study was the need for evidence-based teaching strategies that prepare nursing students to enter practice at graduation with the competencies to provide safe patient care. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether the addition of a patient safety focused human patient simulation (PS-HPS) learning activity during the final senior semester of a nursing program in southeast Michigan changes students&rsquo; perceptions of patient safety competence learning. For the pre-test post-test quasi-experimental study, a convenience sample of 48 undergraduate senior nursing students who engaged in the simulation was compared to 50 senior nursing students from the previous semester that did not receive the intervention. The Health Professional Education in Patient Safety Survey (H-PEPSS) was administered to both groups of nursing students during the second week of the final semester of a baccalaureate nursing program and again at the end of the semester. For the first research question, the ANCOVA test determined that there was no significant difference in post-test classroom learning scores between the comparison and treatment groups, controlling for pre-test classroom learning H-PEPSS scores, F (1, 95) = .000, p = .983, partial eta squared = .000. For the second research question, the ANCOVA test determined that there was no significant difference in post-test clinical learning H-PEPSS scores between the comparison and treatment groups, controlling for pre-test clinical learning scores, F (1, 95) = .496, p = .483, partial eta squared = .005. Implications for nursing education practice include: (a) simulation learning may not be more effective than traditional classroom learning strategies and (b) educators should continue to explore both classroom and clinical teaching strategies to advance students&rsquo; patient safety competence learning. One recommendation is to replicate the study with other nursing students from different locations. Secondly, the simulation scenario presented in this study could be modified by other instructors to effectively facilitate students&rsquo; patient safety learning. Additionally, a mixed methods research design may yield student responses that better reflects student learning within simulation. The proposed study adds to the nursing educational research about the effectiveness of simulation for students&rsquo; patient safety competence learning.</p>

<p> Multiple-choice questions (MCQs) are widely used to measure student achievement in prelicensure nursing education. However, little is known regarding the use of recommended practices in test construction and administration. This study explored New York State (NYS) nurse educators&rsquo; self-reported testing practices, as related to nurse educator characteristics (educational preparation, age, years teaching nursing), and institutional characteristics (program type, program size, policies). It also described the prevalence of use of MCQs. </p><p> A 49-question online survey of testing practices and program characteristics was administered to 1559 nurse educators who taught in prelicensure nursing education programs in NYS. The response rate was 19 percent. </p><p> Sixty-five percent of the respondents indicated that at least 80% of the typical course grade was derived from testing; MCQs comprised a mean of 81% of the questions on a typical test. Testing constituted a greater proportion of course grades in associate degree programs (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05). Nurse educators engaged in a mean of 7.3 of 12 recommended testing practices. Nurse educator characteristics and nursing education program characteristics did not affect use of recommended practices. Respondents in programs with written testing policies engaged in more recommended practices (<i>p </i> &lt; 0.05). Mentoring and professional development activities were the most important source of faculty learning about measurement of student achievement. </p><p> Because MCQ testing is so widely used, leaders in nursing education should ensure the existence of and adherence to written testing policies, and that educators are well prepared through mentoring and professional development to use tests to measure student achievement.</p><p>