PURPOSE: The purpose of this research was to identify the value of undergraduate nursing student clinical preparation within a dedicated education unit on transition to practice.
SPECIFIC AIMS: Describe perceived competence, practice readiness, self-efficacy, job satisfaction, intent-to-stay and orientation length of students who participated in a clinical experience in a dedicated education unit upon graduation, 3- and 6-months employment. Explore new graduate nurses’ perception of the impact of a dedicated education unit clinical experience on transition to practice. Examine relationships between outcome variables. Explore associations between outcome variables and demographic and employment characteristics.
FRAMEWORK: This research was guided by Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory.
DESIGN: This study used a descriptive, longitudinal design with quantitative measures and qualitative interviews.
RESULTS: 18 participants provided quantitative data, and five participated in an interview. Competence, practice readiness and job satisfaction were relatively high. Self-efficacy remained essentially unchanged at all three time points. Average orientation length was 13 weeks, with 41.7% reporting their orientation was shorter than planned. At 6-months employment, 91.7% planned to stay in their current position for one year. Competence and Self-efficacy were associated at 3- and 6-months. Prior healthcare work experience was associated with higher competence at 3- and 6-months. Participants valued the experience of working with a preceptor and the supportive learning environment that allowed them to develop technical and professional nursing skills.
CONCLUSION: These findings support dedicated education units as having a positive impact on new graduate nurse’s transition to practice.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:umassmed.edu/oai:escholarship.umassmed.edu:gsn_diss-1076 |
| Date | 16 May 2021 |
| Creators | Berube, Jennifer A. |
| Publisher | eScholarship@UMMS |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts Medical School |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Graduate School of Nursing Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright © 2021 Berube. This is an open access dissertation licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License., http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Page generated in 0.002 seconds