Mentoring Nurse Practitioners in a Hospital Setting.

BACKGROUND: Nursing philosophy is the foundation of nurse practitioner (NP) training. However, NP practice is based on the medical care model. Thus, the necessity of mediating between these two approaches is often problematic for new NPs who are transitioning into their new roles. Mentoring has been used successfully to facilitate role transition and role understanding for nurses, NPs, and physicians. However, mentoring has been rarely studied in NPs. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop a theory of mentoring for new NPs in a hospital setting. METHODS: Grounded theory methodology was used. The sampling approach was initially purposive and was then shifted to theoretical to ensure the collection of meaningful data. Semistructuredinterviews were recorded and transcribed into Word documents for analysis. The three-phase analysis developed by Corbin and Strauss was initiated after the second interview. RESULTS: Sixteen participants (eight mentors and eight mentees) were interviewed between February and June 2011. The core category that emerged from the data was "defining self," and the main categories were forming the relationship, developing the relationship, and mentoring outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: A well-designed formal mentoring program may greatly improve the transition of NPs into a new role. The theory generated by the data from these study participants provides clearly defined categories that may be operationally defined and utilized to develop evaluation tools for mentoring programs.

Evaluating the effectiveness of the timing of postoperative education in the pediatric population.

The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the impact of timing for providing parents with postoperative education in the pediatric setting, their ability to retain information, and their satisfaction with the education provided. A total of 70 subjects were enrolled and randomly assigned to a control or intervention group. The control group received postoperative education just before discharge home, whereas the intervention group received the education during their child's surgical procedure. Parents' knowledge retention regarding their child's postoperative care was evaluated at 24 hours and 7 days after surgery. Their satisfaction with the postoperative education timing was also evaluated at 24 hours post surgery. A significant difference in satisfaction was found between the two groups, but there was no difference in knowledge scores. These results suggest that parents are able to retain information while their child is in surgery, and, in fact, they prefer this timing for postoperative education.

Extubation of pediatric patients: can nurses safely pull the tube?

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety of pediatric extubation performed by nurses in the PACU after the implementation of an extubation policy. A total of 673 patients were extubated over 12 months. Five-hundred twenty-four (77.9%) of these patients met the criteria for nurse extubation; however, only 304 (58%) were extubated by nurses. One-hundred seventy-nine (34%) patients were not extubated by nurses because of a lack of physician order; a physician was present for 49 (9.3%) patients, and four (0.8%) patients had complications, resulting in a physician extubation. Only 8 (3%) patients extubated by nurses developed complications. These results suggest that nurses can safely perform endotracheal extubation of the pediatric population.