title: New Careers in Nursing Scholar Alumni Toolkit: Development of an Innovative Resource for Transition to Practice.
abstract: The transition from student to professional nurse is challenging and may be more difficult for underrepresented minority nurses. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing (NCIN) program supported development of a toolkit that would serve as a transition-to-practice resource to promote retention of NCIN alumni and other new nurses. Thirteen recent NCIN alumni (54% male, 23% Hispanic/Latino, 23% African Americans) from 3 schools gave preliminary content feedback. An e-mail survey was sent to a convenience sample of 29 recent NCIN alumni who evaluated the draft toolkit using a Likert scale (poor = 1; excellent = 5). Twenty NCIN alumni draft toolkit reviewers (response rate 69%) were primarily female (80%) and Hispanic/Latino (40%). Individual chapters' mean overall rating of 4.67 demonstrated strong validation. Mean scores for overall toolkit content (4.57), usability (4.5), relevance (4.79), and quality (4.71) were also excellent. Qualitative comments were analyzed using thematic content analysis and supported the toolkit's relevance and utility. A multilevel peer review process was also conducted. Peer reviewer feedback resulted in a 6-chapter document that offers resources for successful transition to practice and lays the groundwork for continued professional growth. Future research is needed to determine the ideal time to introduce this resource.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Dean & Professor, Director, Center for Educational Research and Innovation, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, School of Nursing, Newark, NJ 07107.. Electronic address: annmarie.mauro@rutgers.edu.
authors.forename: Ann Marie P
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mauro
authors.affiliation: Professor & Associate Dean for Assessment, Evaluation, and Outcomes, School of Nursing, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-8240.. Electronic address: lori.escallier@stonybrook.edu.
authors.forename: Lori A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Escallier
authors.affiliation: Professor & Director, Nurse Practitioner Programs, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, College of Nursing, Brooklyn, NY 11203.. Electronic address: maria.rosario-sim@downstate.edu.
authors.forename: Maria G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Rosario-Sim
keywords: Diversity; Leadership development; Mentoring; New graduate nurses