Preceptor and Self-Evaluation Competencies Among New RN Graduates
Authors: Prion Susan , Berman Audrey , Karshmer Judith , Van Paulina , Wallace Jonalyn , West Nikki 
Published: July 2015

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contact hours will be awarded by Villanova University College of Nursing upon successful completion of this activity. A contact hour is a unit of measurement that denotes 60 minutes of an organized learning activity. This is a learner-based activity. Villanova University College of Nursing does not require submission of your answers to the quiz.

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Read the article, “Preceptor and Self-Evaluation Competencies Among New RN Graduates,” found on pages 303–308, carefully noting any tables and other illustrative materials that are included to enhance your knowledge and understanding of the content. Be sure to keep track of the amount of time (number of minutes) you spend reading the article and completing the quiz.

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Read and answer each question on the quiz. After completing all of the questions, compare your answers to those provided within this issue. If you have incorrect answers, return to the article for further study.

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Objectives

To describe the reliability and validity of a tool for assessing the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses competencies among new nurse graduates in transition-to-practice programs.

To list opportunities to use the tool in clinical settings.

Disclosure Statement
Neither the planners nor the authors have any conflicts of interest to disclose.

Four transition-to-practice programs for new RN graduates who had not yet found employment in nursing were based on the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) competencies of knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs). To support consistent evaluation of participants by preceptors, a 35-item tool was developed that used a 4-point scale to assess selected behaviors. This article describes the initial reliability and validity testing of the tool, which had good internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.92 for preceptor evaluation of participants and 0.82 when used as a self-evaluation tool. Six content experts evaluated the tool’s face validity; it successfully discriminated between junior-level baccalaureate nursing students and nursing faculty. Although the tool does not exhaustively reflect the QSEN KSAs, it provides a way to assess competencies among new nurse graduates.

J Contin Nurs Educ.
2015;46(7):303–308.