First Advisor

Cullen, Patricia

College

Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice

School

Loretto Heights School of Nursing

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Number of Pages

74 pages

Abstract

Executive Summary Nurse Preceptor Development and the Impact to Self-Efficacy Problem New graduates are confronted with significant challenges associated with transitioning from the role of student nurse to licensed professional (Bratt, 2009). Additionally, even experienced nurses transitioning to a new role or facility, face similar challenges. Typically, clinical preceptors are utilized to orient nurses into new roles within the acute care setting. Such experienced nurses are valuable assets to the organization due to their contribute to the overall quality of care delivered (Moore, 2008), but in many cases they receive little or no formal educational preparation regarding role expectations. The problem statement describing this capstone project is: Will (P) Newly Hired Nurses oriented (I) following the implementation of a preceptor educational program when compared to (C) newly hired nurses oriented prior to the preceptor educational program (O) report an increase in self-efficacy at the completion of the nursing orientation period? Purpose The purpose of this study was to 1) develop and implement a structured preceptor development orientation program and 2) to assess the level of self-efficacy of newly hired nurses who are oriented by preceptors who complete the preceptor program. Goal The goal of this project was to measure the efficacy of the multifaceted educational intervention in providing structure to assist nurse preceptors in the orientation of newly hired staff nurses and the impact of the structured program to promote self-efficacy for the orientee. Objectives Project objectives included: to develop and implement a structured preceptor program; to assess the level of self-efficacy of newly hired nurses who were oriented by preceptors completing the program; to determine whether or not the educational intervention had a statistically significant effect on the development of orientee confidence; to identify correlations between demographic variables such as age in years, years of experience, educational preparation, clinical specialty, and confidence scores. Plan Following a comprehensive literature review, a nurse orientation focus group was established to assess the preceptor development process and the educational intervention was designed from the focus group feedback. Subsequently, a survey instrument for measuring nurse orientee experience was identified and permission for use was obtained. Following Institutional review board approval from Carolinas HealthCare System and Regis University, the project was implemented and data was collected. Finally, pre- and post-intervention data was coded, entered into spreadsheets and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was utilized to analyze. Outcomes and Results A total of 44 participants completed both the pre- and post-intervention surveys and a total of 135 preceptors participated in the educational intervention. The mean confidence scores did not prove to be statistically significant between the pre- and post-intervention period. Furthermore, variations in the orientation length and educational preparation of the newly hired nurses were identified across the organization.

Date of Award

Fall 2014

Location (Creation)

Colorado (state); Denver (county); Denver (inhabited place)

Rights Statement

All content in this Collection is owned by and subject to the exclusive control of Regis University and the authors of the materials. It is available only for research purposes and may not be used in violation of copyright laws or for unlawful purposes. The materials may not be downloaded in whole or in part without permission of the copyright holder or as otherwise authorized in the “fair use” standards of the U.S. copyright laws and regulations.

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