Qualified nurses' rate new nursing graduates as lacking skills in key clinical areas
- Authors: Missen, Karen , McKenna, Lisa , Beauchamp, Alison , Larkins, Jo-Ann
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Clinical Nursing Vol. 25, no. 15-16 (2016), p. 2134-2143
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Aims and objectives: The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of qualified nurses on the abilities of newly registered nursing graduates to perform a variety of clinical skills. Background: Evidence from the literature suggests that undergraduate nursing programmes do not adequately prepare nursing students to be practice-ready on completion of their nursing courses. Design: A descriptive quantitative design was used. Methods: Participants were recruited through the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, Victorian branch. A brief explanation of the study and a link to the survey were promoted in their monthly e-newsletter. A total of 245 qualified nurses in the state of Victoria, Australia participated in this study. A survey tool of 51 clinical skills and open-ended questions was used, whereby participants were asked to rate new nursing graduates' abilities using a 5-point Likert scale. Results: Overall participants rated new nursing graduates' abilities for undertaking clinical skills as good or very good in 35·3% of skills, 33·3% were rated as adequate and 31·4% rated as being performed poorly or very poorly. Of concern, essential clinical skills, such as critical thinking and problem solving, working independently and assessment procedures, were found to be poorly executed and affecting new registered nurses graduates' competence. Conclusion: The findings from this study can further serve as a reference for nursing education providers to enhance nursing curricula and work collaboratively with healthcare settings in preparing nurses to be competent, safe practitioners on completion of their studies. Relevance to clinical practice: Identifying key areas in which new nursing graduates are not yet competent means that educational providers and educators from healthcare settings can focus on these skills in better preparing our nurses to be work ready.
Qualified nurses' perceptions of nursing graduates' abilities vary according to specific demographic and clinical characteristics. A descriptive quantitative study
- Authors: Missen, Karen , McKenna, Lisa , Beauchamp, Alison , Larkins, Jo-Ann
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Nurse Education Today Vol. 45, no. (2016), p. 108-113
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: Evidence from the literature and anecdotally from clinical settings suggests that newly graduated nurses are not fully prepared to be independent practitioners in healthcare settings. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this studywas to explore perceptions of qualified nurses in relation to the practice readiness of newly registered nursing graduates and determine whether these views differ according to specific demographic characteristics, clinical settings, and geographical locations. Design: A descriptive quantitative design was used. Methods: An online survey tool was used to assess how qualified nurses (n = 201) in Victoria, Australia, rated newly graduated nurses' abilities on 51 individual clinical skills/competencies in eight key skill areas. A composite score was calculated for each skill area and a comparative analysis was undertaken on the various cohorts of participants according to their demographic and clinical characteristics using one-way ANOVA and post hoc tests. Results: Newly graduated nurses were found to be lacking competence in two key skill areas and were rated as performing adequately in the remaining six skill areas assessed. Significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in performance were found according to the age of the nurse, number of years registered, the educational setting in which they undertook their nurse education, their role, and the clinical area inwhich theyworked. There were no significant differences according to whether the nurse worked in the private or public healthcare sector. Few differences were found between nurses working in a metropolitan vs. regional/rural healthcare setting. Conclusion: This is the first study to quantify the scale of this problem. Our findings serve as a reference for both nurse education providers and healthcare settings in better preparing nursing graduates to be competent, safe practitioners in all clinical areas.