Impact of the Pandemic on Newly Licensed Nurses' Role Transition Experiences.

This study examined differences in newly licensed nurses' role transition experiences while enrolled in a nurse residency program before and during the pandemic. The Casey-Fink Graduate Nurse Experience Survey measured baseline, 6-month, and 12-month program outcomes. The prepandemic cohort had higher subscale scores at baseline. Both cohort groups showed significant increases in role confidence, patient safety, communication/leadership, and job satisfaction. Despite the pandemic, nurse residency program completion rates remained stable. Implications for nursing professional development practitioners are presented.

Competency Assessment of Pediatric Intensive Care Nurses.

One of the biggest challenges that clinical nurse educators at the unit level face today is measuring the ongoing competency of nursing staff members to ensure provision of high-quality, evidence-based care. Pediatric nursing leaders at an urban, level I trauma teaching institution in the southwestern United States used a shared governance approach to create a standardized competency assessment tool for pediatric intensive care unit nurses. Donna Wright's competency assessment model was used as a framework to guide the tool's development. The adoption of the standardized competency assessment tool was aligned with the organization's institutional goals and enabled clinical nurse educators to comprehensively evaluate staff members on a regular basis. This standardized competency assessment system for pediatric intensive care nurses is more effective than use of a practice-based, task-oriented assessment method and has improved nursing leaders' ability to staff the pediatric intensive care unit safely.

The lived experiences of graduate nurses transitioning to professional practice during a pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Graduate nurses face challenges during their transition to professional practice. Understanding these experiences during a pandemic has not been explored. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to describe the lived experiences of graduate nurses transitioning to practice during a pandemic. METHODS: Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, focus groups were conducted with fifteen nurses who were at three different stages of transition and participating in a 12-month Graduate Nurse Residency Program. FINDINGS: Seven themes emerged: 1) being new is overwhelming, even more so during COVID-19, 2) need to be flexible, 3) pandemic knowledge and practice disconnect, 4) communication barriers worsened with masks, 5) being a "COVID nurse," 6) no self-care, and 7) gratitude: still glad to be a nurse. DISCUSSION: Findings emphasize the important focus on graduate nurse support and educational foundation for role transition into professional practice, especially during a pandemic. Participants expressed lack of preparedness for practice but remain excited about being a nurse.

Reducing Discomfort After Cesarean Birth Using Abdominal Binders.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate potential benefits of use of an abdominal binder after cesarean birth. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at a Magnet-designated, academic medical center in the southwest United States. English- and Spanish-speaking adult women scheduled for an elective cesarean birth were randomized to the intervention or control group. Outcomes were measured for the first 48 hours postoperatively, including pain, medication use, and self-reported symptom distress. RESULTS: Randomization resulted in balanced groups. Women who used the abdominal binder after cesarean birth reported a decrease in pain after ambulation, whereas women in the control group reported an increase in pain after ambulation (p < .001). Women in the binder group reported less distress on the Breathe and Cough items of the Symptom Distress Scale than those in the control group. On postoperative day 2, women in the binder group used more ibuprofen (p = .002) and acetaminophen (p = .027) than the control group. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Use of an abdominal binder by women after cesarean birth can decrease pain, potentially enhancing speed of postoperative recovery. As a nursing intervention, abdominal binders may offer women a safe nonpharmacologic option to provide postoperative comfort.

Using problem-based learning in the clinical setting to improve nursing students' critical thinking: an evidence review.

In preparation for the progressive nature of today's acute care hospital environments and the requirements for safe and effective patient care, it is essential that nursing students learn how to think critically. Problem-based learning is a method of education designed to encourage critical thinking. This article examines the evidence regarding the use of problem-based learning to improve critical thinking. A review of published literature was conducted using the CINAHL, ERIC, PsychInfo, and PubMed databases with the keywords nursing, problem-based learning, and critical thinking. Although the evidence is still accumulating, the studies reviewed indicate a positive relationship between problem-based learning and improved critical thinking in nursing students. There is a need for more rigorous research on the use of problem-based learning to examine the effects on critical thinking. Until this occurs, nursing instructors must rely on the extant evidence to guide their practice or continue to use the traditional model of clinical nursing education.