Journal Articles Highlight Impact, Success of RN Transition Programs

RN Transition Programs provide clear guidelines for preparing nurses to work in settings in which they will be needed. The programs are designed to increase newly graduated RNs’ confidence and competence, thus increasing their employability. They differ from traditional new graduate bridging programs in that they are offered through a school of nursing, which partners with one or more practice settings to provide clinical experiences.  HealthImpact developed the RN Transition Programs in collaboration with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, San Francisco Bay Area schools of nursing, and a range of clinical organizations in 2009 to address the immediate problem of a local surplus of new RN graduates and to help new graduates bridge the gap between education and practice.

The model has been replicated across the state and has generated interest nationally. Evaluation results from the initial grant-funded pilots show that new RN graduate participants had greater employability, confidence, and competence than their counterparts who were not in the program. With the call to prepare future nurses for new roles in a variety of settings, the future of new graduate RN Transition Programs is extremely promising.

The Moore Foundation supported the development of seven articles on the RN Transition Program pilot, which were published in peer-reviewed journals in 2014 and 2015. The articles highlight the role of Transition Programs in increasing the competence, confidence and employability of new graduate RNs. An additional article on the program was written and published in 2011.

The articles include:

• A description of the development and impact on RNs’ general competence, confidence and employment results of the four RN Transition Program pilots in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  West N, Berman A, Karshmer J, Prion S, Van P, Wallace J. Preparing new graduate nurses for practice in multiple settings: a community-based academic-practice partnership model (CNE article). Journal for Continuing Education in Nursing, Vol 45, No 6 (2014). pp.252-256. Click to access article.

• An examination of the RN Transition Program’s applicability and success in ambulatory and community settings.
  Jones-Bell J, Karshmer J, Berman A, Prion S, Van P, Wallace J, West N. Collaborative academic/practice transition program for new graduate RNs in community settings: lessons learned. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, Vol 45, No 6 (2014). pp. 259-264. Click to access article.

• A review of the value and history of academic-practice partnerships as a facilitating factor in efficiently establishing of RN Transition Programs, and ongoing challenges of sustaining the partnerships.
  Van, P, Berman A, Karshmer J, Prion S, Wallace J, West N. Academic-Practice Partnerships for Unemployed New Graduates in California. Journal for Professional Nursing. Vol 31, No 4 (2015). pp. 351-358. Click to access article.

• An analysis of the economic aspects of RN Transition Programs, including total funding per pilot site and cost per participant.
  Wallace J, Berman A,  Karshmer J, Prion S, Van P, West, N. Economic aspects of community-based, academic-practice transition programs for unemployed new nursing graduates. J Nursing Prof Development, Volume 30, Number 5 (2014). pp. 237-241.  Click to access article.

• A description of the development of the Quality and Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN)-based tool to measure competency of RN Transition Program participants, including initial reliability and validity testing.
  Prion S, Berman A, Karshmer J, Van P, Wallace J, West N. Reliability and validity of a tool measuring preceptor and self-evaluations of competencies among new RN graduates in a transition-to-practice program. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, Vol 46, No 7 (2015). pp. 303-308. Click to access article.

• An explanation of the competence and confidence gaps of new nurses that highlights education and practice’s need for bridging programs such as RN Transition Programs.
  Berman A, Beazley B, Karshmer J, Prion S, Van P, Wallace J, West N. Competence Gaps Among Unemployed New Nursing Graduates Entering a Community-Based Transition-to-Practice Program. Nurse Educator, Vol. 39, No. 2 (2014). pp. 56-61. Click to access article.

• Nurse leaders’ perspectives on RN Transition Programs in which ten nurse leaders (including deans and directors from schools of nursing and leaders in practice settings) discuss: motivation and barriers to participation; challenges that arose during the programs and how they were addressed; and the primary benefits of the programs from an organizational or workforce perspective.
  Berman A, Johnson T, West N. New License, No Job: Nurse Leaders’ Experience with Transition-to-Practice Programs for Unemployed New RN Graduates. Nurse Leader. 12 (2014), pp. 29-32.  Click to access article.

• A description of the structure of the RN Transition Program written and published prior to Moore Foundation funding for article development.
  Jones, D and West, N. Community-based transition programs:  California’s answer to the new graduate hiring crisis. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 1(2) (2011). pp. 14-17. Click to access article. 

For more information on HealthImpact’’s RN Transition Programs, click here.