The North Carolina AHEC Self-Paced RN Refresher Program: an evaluation of the first two years

The North Carolina Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Self-Paced RN Refresher Program was designed to promote reentry into practice for inactive nurses. The program consists of a didactic self-study correspondence course and a clinical practicum whereby the refresher nurse works one-on-one with a nurse preceptor. At the end of the first two years, the program was evaluated to determine its effectiveness in terms of participant satisfaction and return to nursing practice and to describe the nurse refresher population demographically. Participants reported a high degree of satisfaction; 69% of nurses who completed the program returned to nursing practice. The typical refresher student is a female Caucasian in her forties, married, and graduated from a diploma nursing program.