Phase II of the Transition to Nursing Practice Project
During 2009 the FNE completed Phase II of the Transition-to-Practice project, with support from BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina Foundation, The Duke Endowment, and Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. In Phase II, both a comprehensive literature review of best and promising practices in new nurse transition programs and preceptor preparation as well as a survey of North Carolina clinical agencies to determine current practices related to preceptor preparation were completed. In addition, two invitational conferences were convened: Best and Promising Practices in Preceptor Preparation and Role Development and Simulation and New Nurses: Promising Practices to Facilitate Transition to Practice. It became clear from both the Phase I survey findings and Phase II activities that the preceptor is a critical component in the successful transition of a new nurse into the practice setting and that there is no consistent preparation for preceptors. Thus, the next phase of this initiative focuses on the preparation of preceptors for their important role.
Specific activities during Phase II include:
- Invitational conference in March 2009 to identify core competencies needed for preceptor role development, and promising practices that will be further developed and piloted for their effectiveness.
- Invitational conference in June 2009 to identify promising practices in the use of simulation as an effective tool for both assessment and development of new nurse competence and competence development.
- Further development of selected promising interventions to pilot and evaluate based on Phase I Study results and conference outcomes.
- Selection of pilot sites for implementation in 2010.
The long-term project goal is to create an evidence-based statewide transition to practice program for new nurse graduates by 2015.
