Preparing new nurse graduates for practice in multiple settings: a community-based academic-practice partnership...

Responding to local and national concerns about the nursing workforce, the California Institute for Nursing and Health Care worked with private and public funders and community health care partners to establish community-based transition-to-practice programs for new RN graduates unable to secure nursing positions in the San Francisco Bay Area. The goals were to retain new RN graduates in nursing and further develop their skills and competencies to increase their employability. Leaders from academic and inpatient, ambulatory, and community-based practice settings, as well as additional community partners, collaboratively provided four 12- to 16-week pilot transition programs in 2010-2011. A total of 345 unemployed new nurse graduates enrolled. Eighty-four percent of 188 respondents to a post-program survey were employed in inpatient and community settings 3 months after completion. Participants and clinical preceptors also reported increases in confidence and competence.