Clinical decision-making among new graduate nurses attending residency programs in Saudi Arabia

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Workforce Development

Background:

• New graduate nurses require robust clinical decision-making skills for effective patient care.
• The impact of structured residency programs on these skills in Saudi Arabia was previously unexamined.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effect of nursing residency programs on the clinical decision-making abilities of new Saudi graduate nurses.
• To compare skill levels between nurses who participated in residency programs and those who did not.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive study surveyed 98 new graduate nurses in Saudi Arabia using the Clinical Decision Making in Nursing Scale.
• Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, and multiple linear regression.

Main Results:

• Nurses who completed residency programs showed significantly higher clinical decision-making skills (t=23.25, p=0.000).
• Residency program participation explained 86.9% of the variance in clinical decision-making skills, controlling for age and GPA.

Conclusions:

• Nursing residency programs positively influence new graduate nurses' clinical decision-making skills, consistent with international findings.
• The study emphasizes the necessity of establishing residency programs for all newly graduated nurses in Saudi Arabia.