Graduate Registered Nurse Transition to Practice
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Date
2014-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Abstract
Newly licensed registered nurses account for 10-15% of the entire active nursing workforce at any given period of time. This is significant in light of the fact that the average age of a registered nurse in the United States is currently 47, with 55% of the workforce being age 50 or older. Despite growth in the number of men and women entering nursing school, a shortage of nurses continues and will likely approximate 260,000 open RN positions by 2025. This shortage is complicated by the fact that RN turnover at the end of the first year of licensure ranges anywhere from 17-30%.
The Rosswurm and Larrabee Model for Evidence-Based Practice Change was chosen as an appropriate framework for this project, which sought to validate that structured nursing residencies may help mitigate first-year turnover in a program that had been established at ProMedica St. Luke’s Hospital. A convenience sample of newly licensed registered nurses who had completed a residency program filled out a survey regarding conditions that enhanced work effectiveness. This same group participated in semi-structured interviews with questions based on Quality and Safety Education for Nurses competencies as they neared or at the end of their residency.
Findings were consistent with published literature: nursing residencies help reduce first year turnover rates, improve the quality of care patients receive through improved critical thinking skills, improve the feelings of newly licensed nurses about their chosen profession, and help reduce expenses related to the recruitment and replacement of nurses who have left the organization. Potential factors for improvement in the program were also discovered, including the importance of strong preceptors as a major theme.
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Keywords
nurse graduate transition practice