Just Culture: Nursing Students Transition to Practice-a Longitudinal Study

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Safety
• Organizational Behavior

Background:

• Just culture principles are reportedly integrated into nursing education and practice.
• Limited understanding exists regarding how perceptions of just culture evolve during the transition from student to practicing registered nurse.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe and compare just culture perceptions of registered nurses (RNs) at two distinct time points: during prelicensure education and as new graduate RNs with at least six months of experience.
• To analyze changes in just culture perceptions throughout the educational-to-practice transition.

Main Methods:

• A within-subject, longitudinal study design was employed.
• The Just Culture Assessment Tool for Nursing Education (JCAT-NE) and the Just Culture Assessment Tool (JCAT) were utilized to measure perceptions.
• Data were collected at two time points to track changes over time.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant overall change in just culture perception scores was observed between the two time points.
• Eight individual items within the assessment tools showed statistically significant changes in perception.
• These specific item changes suggest nuanced shifts in understanding or experience.

Conclusions:

• New graduate nurses apply knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding just culture acquired during their prelicensure education.
• The findings indicate that the professional practice environment can modify nurses' perceptions of just culture.
• Specific aspects of the practice setting warrant attention for their impact on just culture perceptions.