The Challenge of Surveying New Graduate Nurses.

Random samples are the gold standard when surveying a nationwide population, such as new graduate nurses. The goal of this article is to detail the challenges experienced when sampling and surveying newly licensed RNs who entered the health care environment during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. To create a random sample of this population, all 51 U.S. state boards of nursing were contacted. State boards of nursing are the best resource for this information, but obtaining contact information, soliciting a response, and dealing with privacy laws as well as the cost of the lists reduced the survey frame. Of the 51 state boards, eight provided usable lists of participants. Obtaining a sampling frame was challenging. Once created, other issues arose. Finding ways to obtain random sampling lists of RNs and encouraging nurses to participate in research are key elements of addressing issues in health care today. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2024;55(3):145-148.].

Educational Interventions to Improve Graduating Nursing Students' Practice Readiness: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: For practice readiness, graduates need minimal competence in many areas. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) identified 10 domains of competence. PURPOSE: The aim was to determine whether there is evidence of the objective assessment of learning in the senior year that aligns with the new AACN domains. METHODS: A systematic literature review included English language, final year, baccalaureate program, and outcomes objectively measured. Master's and midwifery programs were excluded. Database searches by a reference librarian (March 24, 2020) in Scopus, CINAHL, Ovid MEDLINE, ERIC, and Web of Science resulted in 40 peer-reviewed articles. Samples ranged from 9 to 527. Three authors examined results ensuring rigor, decreasing bias, and categorizing articles into the AACN's 10 domains. MERSQI scoring was applied. RESULTS: Six of the 10 domains were addressed in the literature. Many studies used investigator-developed tools with no validity or reliability. CONCLUSIONS: An emphasis on practice readiness means educators must be able to teach and measure critical behaviors.

Adopting a Global Virtual Team Approach to Enhance Performance of an International Nursing Research Collaboration.

ABSTRACT: Global mobility, technological developments, and evolved organizational design have expanded the scope of workplace teams beyond traditional arrangements, giving rise to global virtual teams. As universities across the world encourage mobility, there are unprecedented opportunities to create discipline-specific international networks, increase cross-cultural understanding, and create rich interactions in research. Team structure, trust formation, and communication processes are known to positively influence global virtual team performance. They are discussed to illustrate the value of a structured model of work in an international research-focused collaboration of nursing academics from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

The quest for workload equity in nurse faculty teaching.

BACKGROUND: While nurse faculty may believe that they teach more than faculty in other academic departments, their perceptions are difficult to corroborate when workload policies are not transparent at institutions. PURPOSE: This descriptive study was designed to examine inequities in teaching workloads between nurse faculty and their academic colleagues from the perspectives of Deans and Directors of Nursing Programs. METHODS: A web-based, investigator-developed survey was emailed to Nurse Unit Leaders in spring, 2019. The final sample included 224 respondents. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. FINDINGS: Nurse Unit Leaders perceived that nurse faculty teach larger classes and more courses than their academic peers. Survey respondents attributed these and other variations at their institutions to the complexity of teaching responsibilities in nursing units and the limited understanding of these responsibilities by university administrators. DISCUSSION: Ensuring equitable teaching workloads requires transparent policies and an organizational culture committed to faculty governance.

Exploring the relationship between resilience and grit among nursing students: A correlational research study.

BACKGROUND: Nurse turnover is a critical issue around the world. Finding factors that can increase job persistence in nursing can have a positive impact on both the quality and cost of health care. Resilience and grit have been studied as factors that help an individual persist in the pursuit of their goals. Resilience and grit are related terms that have frequently been used interchangeably, although some studies suggest that they are different constructs. Determining if they are different constructs is important as we seek to develop qualities in new nurses that increase their job persistence and satisfaction. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between resilience and grit in pre-licensure nursing students. DESIGN/SETTING: This descriptive correlational study was conducted at a midsize private University in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: The convenience sample consisted of students from 3 pre-licensure programs: Traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing (TBSN), Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) and Direct Entry Masters of Science in Nursing (DEMSN). The final sample was 348 students: 79% TBSN, 7% ABSN and 14% DEMSN. METHODS: Resilience was measured with the Conner-Davidson Resilience 10 item scale. Grit was measured utilizing the Short Grit Scale. RESULTS: Inspection of the interfactor correlations suggest that resilience and grit scales are distinct, though tend to correlate well. Notably, the relationship between resilience and the persistent effort component of grit was moderate. That correlation was higher than the relationship between the consistent interest component of grit and resilience. CONCLUSION: This study concludes that grit and resilience are related concepts but are not synonymous. Being mindful of the difference in these two attributes may be important in the development of educational offerings in both Schools of Nursing and in new nurse residency programs to increase retention in nursing.

Experiences of Master's Prepared Clinical Nurse Leaders at Three Years Post-Graduation.

Direct Entry Master of Science in Nursing programs that incorporate Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) education are relatively new in the United States. Little is known about the transition to practice experience of Master's prepared CNL graduates. This evaluation explored how Direct Entry Master of Science in Nursing CNL graduates perceived their transition to practice experience three years post-graduation. All graduates (n = 21) of an inaugural Direct Entry CNL program were invited to be interviewed 3 years after graduation; 16 (76%) opted to participate. Major findings from the semi-structured interviews included educational satisfaction, challenges in transition to practice, uneven use of CNL education, and anxiety about student debt. Satisfaction with their education and their early application of leadership skills were overshadowed by their frustrations with student debt and the preponderance of bullying experienced in the workplace.

Review of State Boards of Nursing Rules and Regulations for Nurse Preceptors.

BACKGROUND: The clinical education of undergraduate nursing students relies heavily on the use of staff nurses who assume the preceptor role. The best and most efficient utilization of preceptors is unknown. METHOD: This study reviewed Board of Nursing rules and regulations for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories for their published requirements regarding preceptors. Specifically, this review focused on preceptor-student and faculty-student ratios, role responsibilities, and requirements of preceptors and faculty in undergraduate precepted clinical experiences. RESULTS: Although some commonalities were noted, such as eligibility (RN licensure), degree requirements (baccalaureate), and years of experience (1 to 3), 11 states had no documented regulations. The existing documents appear to lack depth, specificity, and consistency. CONCLUSION: Because preceptors are utilized to such a great extent, the eligibility, selection, preparation, and expectations of preceptors and faculty who work with them should be more explicit. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(3):134-141.].

Resilience and transition to practice in Direct Entry nursing graduates.

Resilience may be one factor that influences new graduates transition to practice. This pilot study looked at one cohort of Direct Entry Accelerated Master's in Nursing graduates and compared the relationship over time between their transition to practice experience and their resiliency. Seventeen of 21 graduates participated in surveys at graduation and then three, six and 12 months post-graduation. The survey consisted of four parts: Demographics, Educational/Professional Satisfaction Scale (2016), the Casey-Fink Graduate Nurse Experience Scale (2004), and the Wagnild & Young Resiliency Scale (1993). The results indicated that professional satisfaction fluctuates during the first year of practice. At 12 months post-graduation only 57% of the respondents felt their education prepared them for the reality of nursing practice. Resilience at 12 months post-graduation accounts for 79% of the variance in the Casey Fink scores at 12 months. Interventions to improve resilience in new nursing graduates may be one way to positively impact transition to practice.

Effect of Curriculum Revision on Graduates' Transition to Practice.

The effect of educational interventions on the transition experiences of new graduates of prelicensure programs is unclear. This study investigated the effect of curriculum revision on transition to practice of nursing graduates. The nursing curriculum can have a positive influence on professional and job satisfaction at 3 months postgraduation, but the practice environment becomes the dominant force after that. Graduates who demonstrated poorer transition to practice at 3 months were more likely to leave their first positions by 12 months.

The transition to practice of Direct Entry Clinical Nurse Leader graduates.

This study looks at Direct Entry Clinical Nurse Leader graduates and how their transition to practice experiences develops over time as well as factors influencing their transition. Graduates were surveyed at graduation, three, six and 12 months. Seventeen participated; eight completed all surveys. Most were from the Millennial generation. The survey consisted of two parts: school satisfaction and the Casey-Fink Graduate Nurse Experience Scale. The results showed the Casey-Fink total score at 12 months was 0.75 points higher than at three months; suggesting a positive transition. The highest score occurred at six months which conversely had the lowest levels of satisfaction with both educational experience and intent to stay in their current role. Despite having 850 precepted/mentored clinical hours, 57.1% of these graduates stated they felt unprepared for the reality of nursing after 12 months. Regardless of feeling unprepared, the results suggest these students displayed a positive transition to practice. At 12 months, 88.2% were still with their first employers which contrasted the results of Casey-Fink and other studies of Millennial gradate nurses, which showed higher actual and intent to leave results. This study suggests that Direct Entry Clinical Nurse Leader students do indeed transition to practice more positively than traditional nursing graduates.

State boards of nursing and the bridge to quality.

The 2003 Institute of Medicine report, Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality, delineated a set of core competencies for health care professionals-providing patient-centered care, working in interdisciplinary teams, using evidence-based practice, applying quality improvement processes, and using informatics. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which these core competencies have been incorporated in the rules and regulations of state boards of nursing in the United States as required curricular content for professional nursing programs. A research team compiled state boards of nursing regulations related to prelicensure nursing curricula from all 50 states, and content analysis was performed. Eight states incorporated all five competencies in their regulations. Other states incorporated some of the five competencies; evidence-based practice and informatics were the competencies most frequently excluded from state regulations. The lack of emphasis on these competencies has implications for the ongoing development of the profession of nursing.

Building bridges: an innovative academic-service partnership.

Academic and service entities can create sustainable models of collaboration that realign relationships and resources to enhance the critical competencies essential for entry into practice. Our hospital and school collaborated to implement an innovative academic-service partnership model in which the academic and the care delivery enterprises intersected to accomplish goals of mutual interest and enhance and enrich the practice environment. Two existing resources-the staff nurse and faculty-were used to realign the educational process with the realities of nursing practice in an interpretive, contextual, live unfolding clinical environment that was relevant and memorable. The students were better integrated into the clinical operations and showed increased levels of critical thinking, clinical decision-making, and clinical inquiry skills. The model holds promise to improve transition to practice, make better use of existing resources, and foster collaborative relationships among the academic, practice, and regulatory enterprises.

A dialogue on the future of nursing practice.

PURPOSE: The challenges of health care; its safety, effectiveness, and efficiency; the quality of care; and the outcomes patients experience are issues central to nursing practice. This centrality needs to be affirmed as the profession shapes its practice over the next 50 years. The purpose of this article is to initiate a dialogue on the future of nursing practice. METHODS: The methods used are observation, reflection, dialogue, and proposed actions. FINDINGS: The results of this process are preliminary. They suggest that the establishment of nursing hospitals is a distinct possibility. CONCLUSIONS: This article concludes with a series of arguments for and against this position along with an invitation for your participation in this dialogue. NURSING IMPLICATIONS: The major implications of this article are not "nursing" implications per se but client and patient implications and the future contribution of nursing to improved health and patient care.

Is it time for a new category of nursing diagnosis?

Professional vigilance, the art of "watching out," is the essence of nursing. Vigilance is the mental process that makes the informed nursing actions of assessment, diagnosis, intervention, and evaluation possible and meaningful. Nursing vigilance must be described in our nursing terminology or it risks remaining invisible to others. We propose that the current definition of nursing diagnosis be expanded to include surveillance diagnoses for which the nurse has the responsibility for problem identification and ongoing monitoring. Inclusion of surveillance diagnoses in the NANDA International taxonomy will better reflect the breadth and depth of nursing practice.

Ethics education in MSN programs: a study of national trends.

The aim of this study was to determine the manner in which master's of science in nursing programs, accredited by either the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission or the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, conduct ethics education. A survey method was employed to obtain requisite data. Among the main variables investigated were: the percentage of programs that require a course with formal ethics content; the average number of class hours a program or track dedicates to ethics education; required and actual credentials of instructors who teach ethics; and objectives, topics, teaching methods, and grading methods of required courses with formal ethics content. Results indicated that most programs do not require instructors to have completed formal ethics training. In terms of content, few common trends exist and there are important gaps in clinical ethics topics. Comparisons between school of medicine ethics content reported in the literature and MSN ethics content reported in this study indicate that medical schools are more exacting of their students. The study concludes with a call for the establishment of guidelines or standards relevant to ethics content in MSN curricula in the United States.

A profile of accelerated BSN graduates, 2004.

In 1971, Saint Louis University initiated a new type of baccalaureate nursing curriculum, the accelerated option. Since then, there has been an explosion of accelerated baccalaureate nursing (BSN) programs. Despite the popularity of these programs, there is little reported research on the type of students entering accelerated BSN programs and their degree of satisfaction with the programs. This descriptive study aimed to provide a profile of one graduating class of accelerated BSN students. Students in this study had a mean age of 28 and were most likely to have previous baccalaureate degrees in the physical or social sciences. Results indicated that students were, on the whole, satisfied with the accelerated BSN experience, but that the program does pose academic, financial, and personal challenges. Implications for recruitment and retention of accelerated BSN students are discussed.

Vigilance: the essence of nursing.

Nursing, perhaps more than any other health care profession, claims caring as fundamental to its practice. Professional vigilance is the essence of caring in nursing. This article uses historical and theoretical bases to define professional vigilance and discuss its components. Two types of nursing diagnoses, central and surveillance, are proposed. Central diagnoses indicate the need for the nurse to plan and implement interventions for the achievement of outcomes. North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA)-approved diagnoses fall in this category. Surveillance diagnoses are those that recognize patient risks that are anticipated by the nurse, who remains ready to act in the event of occurrence. The profession, as a whole, and language developers, in particular, need to expand standardized nursing diagnosis terminology so that the contribution of nurses' vigilance to patient safety may be effectively communicated and documented.

Development and evaluation of evidence-based nursing (EBN) filters and related databases.

OBJECTIVES: Difficulties encountered in the retrieval of evidence-based nursing (EBN) literature and recognition of terminology, research focus, and design differences between evidence-based medicine and nursing led to the realization that nursing needs its own filter strategies for evidence-based practice. This article describes the development and evaluation of filters that facilitate evidence-based nursing searches. METHODS: An inductive, multistep methodology was employed. A sleep search strategy was developed for uniform application to all filters for filter development and evaluation purposes. An EBN matrix was next developed as a framework to illustrate conceptually the placement of nursing-sensitive filters along two axes: horizontally, an adapted nursing process, and vertically, levels of evidence. Nursing diagnosis, patient outcomes, and primary data filters were developed recursively. Through an interface with the PubMed search engine, the EBN matrix filters were inserted into a database that executes filter searches, retrieves citations, and stores and updates retrieved citations sets hourly. For evaluation purposes, the filters were subjected to sensitivity and specificity analyses and retrieval set comparisons. Once the evaluation was complete, hyperlinks providing access to any one or a combination of completed filters to the EBN matrix were created. Subject searches on any topic may be applied to the filters, which interface with PubMed. RESULTS: Sensitivity and specificity for the combined nursing diagnosis and primary data filter were 64% and 99%, respectively; for the patient outcomes filter, the results were 75% and 71%, respectively. Comparisons were made between the EBN matrix filters (nursing diagnosis and primary data) and PubMed's Clinical Queries (diagnosis and sensitivity) filters. Additional comparisons examined publication types and indexing differences. Review articles accounted for the majority of the publication type differences, because "review" was accepted by the CQ but was "NOT'd" by the EBN filter. Indexing comparisons revealed that although the term "nursing diagnosis" is in Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), the nursing diagnoses themselves (e.g., sleep deprivation, disturbed sleep pattern) are not indexed as nursing diagnoses. As a result, abstracts deemed to be appropriate nursing diagnosis by the EBN filter were not accepted by the CQ diagnosis filter. CONCLUSIONS: The EBN filter capture of desired articles may be enhanced by further refinement to achieve a greater degree of filter sensitivity. Retrieval set comparisons revealed publication type differences and indexing issues. The EBN matrix filter "NOT'd" out "review," while the CQ filter did not. Indexing issues were identified that explained the retrieval of articles deemed appropriate by the EBN filter matrix but not included in the CQ retrieval. These results have MeSH definition and indexing implications as well as implications for clinical decision support in nursing practice.