Supporting New Graduated Nurse's Professional Competence, a Theoretical Model for Optimal Orientation

This research is a longitudinal quasi-experimental intervention study which aim is to study education intervention's impact on new graduate nurses' orientation period, professional competence and organizational commitment. The study hypothesis is that new graduate nurses who start to work at the nursing unit which belong to the intervention group are more satisfied on received orientation, their professional competence develops faster and they are more committed to the organization than new graduate nurses at the units of the control group.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Nurse's Role; Competence
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Educational intervention for preceptors

Detailed Description

This research is a dissertation which aim is to study nursing orientation from the preceptors' and new graduate nurses' point of view. The purpose is to develop a theoretical model for optimal orientation.

The aim is to study whether it is possible to affect new graduate nurses' professional competence development and their organizational commitment by educating preceptors. The aim is also to study new graduate nurses' perceptions of their clinical learning environment and received orientation and supporting and impeding factors of the successful orientation from the preceptors' point of view.

In order to measure the effectiveness of the education intervention on new graduate nurses' professional competence and commitment, participating nursing units is randomized by simple random sampling into the intervention group and the control group. Intervention group's preceptors is given an eight-hour education entity about orientation and preceptorship. The objective is to enhance preceptors' knowledge and skills about the orientation and to give preceptors means to precept new graduate nurses better. Nursing units at the control group continue to precept as before. The unit managers recruit participants (preceptors to the education intervention and new graduate nurses in both groups) to the study. No blinding has been made.

The independent variables are preceptors, work community, supervisors and new graduate nurses sociodemographic characteristics. The dependent variables are new graduate nurses' professional competence and commitment.

The data will be collected by using an electronical questionnaires. The Nurse Competence Scale (NCS©) will be used to study new graduate nurses' professional competence at the baseline, three months and nine months, a modified Clinical Learning Environment Scale (CLES+T©) will be used to study new graduate nurses' clinical learning environment and their orientation period at three months and Nurse Engagement Survey© will be used to study new graduate nurses' commitment at nine months. The same evaluations will be made in both groups. Preceptors' perceptions of the enhancing and impeding factors of the successful orientation is measured by open-ended questionnaire at the beginning of the education intervention.

The study results will be published on international nursing research journals and the theoretical model for optimal orientation will be published on doctoral dissertation.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 114
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 20 years to 60 years (ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Less than one year from the graduation, willingness to participate

Exclusion Criteria:

• Already a registered nurse, more than one year from the graduation

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
• Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Educational intervention; Intervention group's preceptors is given an eight-hour education entity about orientation and preceptorship. The objective is to enhance preceptors' knowledge and skills about the orientation and to give preceptors means to precept new graduate nurses better.	Other: Educational intervention for preceptors
NO_INTERVENTION: No intervention; Nursing units at the control group continue to precept as before.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Professional competence, the change of the professional competence is being assessed	Nurse Competence Scale, min 0 to max 100. Higher scores means better outcome	Baseline
Professional competence, the change of the professional competence is being assessed	Nurse Competence Scale, min 0 to max 100. Higher scores means better outcome	Three months
Professional competence, the change of the professional competence is being assessed	Nurse Competence Scale, min 0 to max 100. Higher scores means better outcome	Nine months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Precepting experience	Clinical Learning Environment Scale, min 1 to max 10. Higher scores means better outcome	Three months
Organizational commitment	Nurse Engament Survey, min 1 to max 5. Higher scores means better outcome	Nine months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Tampere University
• Investigators: Study Director: Eija Paavilainen, PhD, Tampere University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): October 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): November 30, 2017
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): November 30, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 28, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 13, 2020
• First Posted (ACTUAL): July 17, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): July 17, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 13, 2020
• Last Verified: July 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: PreceptOR2014

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No