Improving Practice Readiness Among Nurse Residents.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Simulation
• Clinical Judgment Development

Background:

• Limited clinical judgment skills (8%) among new graduate registered nurses (RNs) highlight an academic-practice gap.
• Existing nurse residency programs lack standardized guidelines for content, delivery, structure, and assessment of practice readiness.
• A significant deficit in practice readiness necessitates innovative educational interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement virtual simulation within an existing nurse residency program to bridge the academic-practice gap.
• To assess the impact of virtual simulation on the practice readiness of new graduate RNs.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of transformed pedagogical technologies in preparing nurses for independent practice.

Main Methods:

• Virtual simulation was integrated into a nurse residency program.
• Pre- and post-assessments were conducted to measure practice readiness before independent practice.
• The study focused on enhancing clinical judgment and reducing errors through simulation.

Main Results:

• A 373% improvement in virtual clinical performance scores was observed.
• Significant reductions in medication errors, sentinel events, and failures to rescue were noted.
• Improvements in virtual performance correlated with a decrease in practice errors during actual clinical performance.

Conclusions:

• Transformed pedagogical technologies and learning methodologies offer promising interventions for practice readiness deficits.
• Virtual simulation effectively enhances clinical judgment and prepares new graduate RNs for safer independent practice.
• This approach sets the stage for improved patient safety outcomes by addressing the readiness gap in newly qualified nurses.