ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: For nursing professionals to direct and influence the health care changes for implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, emerging graduate nurses must be prepared as leaders and advocates for smooth patient care transitions for patients and caregivers. This article reports on how an undergraduate nursing program and its clinical partner created a course to allow students to step back from direct patient care and explore diverse nursing roles, team collaboration, communication, and processes that aim to collectively promote safe and effective quality care. METHOD: Students completed online pre- and posttest surveys to rate their confidence levels with skills across seven measures. RESULTS: Comparative analysis of the pre- and posttest surveys indicated a significant increase in students' perception of their knowledge and skills across all areas. CONCLUSION: The instructional framework, using a care transitions model and clinical experiences, prepared students to work with health care teams and community partners for managing patient and family transitions in a variety of health care settings.
