Transitioning Newly Licensed Nurses Into Practice Through an Academic-Practice Partnership.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• A significant gap exists between academic nursing programs and clinical practice settings for new graduate nurses.
• Ensuring new graduates provide safe, high-quality patient care is a key responsibility of nursing programs.
• Improving new graduate nurse retention in healthcare facilities is crucial for maintaining workforce stability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the planning, implementation, and evaluation of an academic-practice partnership.
• To enhance the quality of patient care delivered by new graduate nurses.
• To improve the retention rates of registered nurses in healthcare facilities.

Main Methods:

• A collaborative partnership was established between a healthcare facility and an associate of applied science nursing degree program.
• The partnership focused on bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application for nursing graduates.
• The initiative involved joint planning, implementation, and evaluation phases.

Main Results:

• The partnership successfully integrated academic preparation with clinical practice requirements.
• Positive impacts on the quality of patient care were observed.
• The initiative contributed to improved retention of newly graduated registered nurses.

Conclusions:

• Academic-practice partnerships are effective strategies for supporting new graduate nurses.
• These collaborations enhance patient care quality and address critical workforce retention issues.
• The described model provides a framework for similar initiatives in nursing education and healthcare.