The fast track back to registered nurses employment.
The registered nurse (RN) workforce continues to decline. One method to attract experienced RNs into the workforce is through RN refresher courses. To determine if our RN refresher program is successful in returning RNs to the workforce, we sought to measure the: characteristics of RNs who participate in our program; relationship among participants' employment and demographics; effect of high fidelity human simulation (HFHS) on participants' learning, and; program's ability to meet participants' preparation for employment. Seventy-three participants were surveyed to measure their demographics and employment; they ranked the HFHS experience and program experience on their learning and employment. Thirty-four (47%) surveys were returned. Thirty-three participants (97%) were female (mean age=50.44 years, SD=6.2). Their mean years of RN licensure was 24.93 years (SD=8.8), and their mean time out of nursing practice was 13.30 years (SD=8.0). Twenty-six (76.5%) were employed, with 20 (60.6%) employed as RNs at acute care facilities. Employed participants were licensed for less years than non-employed participants (p=0.047). Employed participants ranked their HFHS experience highly (p=0.04) and the program highly (p=0.04) on benefiting their current employment. Our refresher program appears to be successful in helping RNs re-enter the nursing workforce.
University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, 415 Victoria Building, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. LBE100@pitt.edu
Lisa Marie
LM
Bernardo
Helen K
HK
Burns
Rosemary
R
Hoffmann
Joseph
J
Dailey
Thomas
T
Hornyak
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000379:methods*; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004518:Education, Professional, Retraining / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology / Q000600:supply & distribution; D010414:Pennsylvania; D010560:Personnel Selection / Q000458:organization & administration; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013997:Time Factors