Design and Implementation of a Nursing Capstone Across a Multisite Health System

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic created profound effects in nursing education. Using a robust academic-practice partnership, a college of nursing and a health care organization collaborated to launch Jefferson Capstone Experience (JCE), an education delivery model that included a one-to-one, 108-hour clinical preceptorship between an experienced RN and an undergraduate nursing student.

The expedited design, implementation, and evaluation of JCE is described. The mixed-method program evaluation included surveys, interviews, and focus groups with students, faculty, and preceptors.

Students and preceptors reported high levels of satisfaction with JCE. All parties emphasized the importance of clear and timely communication, academic practice collaboration, and organization. A significant number of capstone graduates accepted a position with a capstone clinical partner.

Although the logistics of planning and implementation were challenging, an immersive and largely positive experience was created for undergraduate students, which created a robust hiring pipeline of new-to-practice nurses. [.