title: Graduate nurses' perceptions of a critical care nurse internship program.
abstract: Graduate nurse internship programs (NIPs) have existed for a number of years as tools for recruiting and retaining nurses. A recent literature review uncovers the rare NIP dedicated to orienting the graduate nurse to a critical care environment. Few have addressed the nurse interns' perceptions of these programs. Ongoing evaluation is vital to improving existing programs and giving credence to other hospitals with similar initiatives. A retrospective descriptive design study with the purpose of disclosing the critical care graduate nurse interns' perceptions of the critical care NIP at Elkhart General Hospital, a 330-bed community hospital in Elkhart, Indiana, provided information for this study. Patricia Benner's novice-to-expert model served as the theoretical framework. The critical care NIP questionnaire provided satisfaction scores for program components. Mean scores between groups were explored using the t test. Mean satisfaction score for the overall program was 5.62 (SD = 0.371), with a retention rate of 76.9% (20 of 26). Statistically significant differences in satisfaction scores were not found in this pilot study between nurse interns currently working in critical care and those who are not.
authors: Elkhart General Hospital, Elkhart, Indiana 46514, USA. jeigsti@egh.org
authors: Janice E
authors: JE
authors: Eigsti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003422:Critical Care; D003479:Curriculum; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007196:Indiana; D007397:Internship, Nonmedical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D010563:Personnel Turnover / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013041:Specialties, Nursing / Q000193:education; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires