Five recommendations for prelicensure clinical nursing education.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Workforce Development
• Clinical Practice

Background:

• The registered nurse (RN) shortage is a persistent and worsening issue in healthcare.
• Key contributing factors include a lack of qualified nursing faculty and insufficient clinical placement sites for students.
• These shortages impede the pipeline of new nurses entering the profession.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the critical shortage of registered nurses (RNs).
• To explore innovative academic-service partnerships to enhance clinical education quality.
• To strengthen professional relationships within clinical settings to support nursing students' development and transition to practice.

Main Methods:

• The study proposes five recommendations to improve clinical nursing education.
• These include reenvisioning student-staff nurse dynamics, reconceptualizing the clinical faculty role, and enhancing professional development.
• Recommendations also cover reexamining the clinical component's scope and strengthening evidence-based practices.

Main Results:

• Innovative academic-service partnerships can optimize scarce resources like faculty and clinical sites.
• Strengthening relationships among students, staff nurses, faculty, and institutions is vital for socialization and role development.
• The study suggests key outcomes for evaluating clinical education approaches.

Conclusions:

• Addressing the nursing shortage requires innovative solutions in education and practice.
• Enhancing clinical learning environments and professional relationships is essential for preparing competent RNs.
• Further research is needed to validate best practices in clinical nursing education and evaluate outcomes.