title: A Newly Licensed Nurse Orientation Program Evaluation: Focus on Outcomes.
abstract: The aim of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness and outcomes of a redesigned newly licensed nurse orientation program. A unique aspect of this program was an end-of-orientation simulated four-patient assignment that was designed to assess five categories of critical thinking: prioritization and delegation, problem recognition, clinical decision making, clinical implementation, and reflection. Newly licensed nurses' critical thinking was measured by the Advisory Board's Critical Thinking Diagnostic tool at 10 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months. Findings showed that in all five categories of critical thinking, a significant increase was found between the 10-week and 6-month evaluation. Two of the categories-prioritization and delegation, and problem recognition-were found to have a significant increase from the 6-month evaluation to the 12-month evaluation. In addition, newly licensed nurses reported improvement in their confidence and in their preparation to work independently. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2017;48(1):22-28.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Phoenix Bittner
authors.forename: Gayle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gravlin
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.forename: Darlene
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bourgeois
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology*; D016544:Patient Simulation; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013850:Thinking