Supporting New Graduated Nurse's Professional Competence, a Theoretical Model for Optimal Orientation

This research is a longitudinal quasi-experimental intervention study which aim is to study education intervention's impact on new graduate nurses' orientation period, professional competence and organizational commitment. The study hypothesis is that new graduate nurses who start to work at the nursing unit which belong to the intervention group are more satisfied on received orientation, their professional competence develops faster and they are more committed to the organization than new graduate nurses at the units of the control group.

This research is a dissertation which aim is to study nursing orientation from the preceptors' and new graduate nurses' point of view. The purpose is to develop a theoretical model for optimal orientation.

The aim is to study whether it is possible to affect new graduate nurses' professional competence development and their organizational commitment by educating preceptors. The aim is also to study new graduate nurses' perceptions of their clinical learning environment and received orientation and supporting and impeding factors of the successful orientation from the preceptors' point of view.

In order to measure the effectiveness of the education intervention on new graduate nurses' professional competence and commitment, participating nursing units is randomized by simple random sampling into the intervention group and the control group. Intervention group's preceptors is given an eight-hour education entity about orientation and preceptorship. The objective is to enhance preceptors' knowledge and skills about the orientation and to give preceptors means to precept new graduate nurses better. Nursing units at the control group continue to precept as before. The unit managers recruit participants (preceptors to the education intervention and new graduate nurses in both groups) to the study. No blinding has been made.

The independent variables are preceptors, work community, supervisors and new graduate nurses sociodemographic characteristics. The dependent variables are new graduate nurses' professional competence and commitment.

The data will be collected by using an electronical questionnaires. The Nurse Competence Scale (NCS©) will be used to study new graduate nurses' professional competence at the baseline, three months and nine months, a modified Clinical Learning Environment Scale (CLES+T©) will be used to study new graduate nurses' clinical learning environment and their orientation period at three months and Nurse Engagement Survey© will be used to study new graduate nurses' commitment at nine months. The same evaluations will be made in both groups. Preceptors' perceptions of the enhancing and impeding factors of the successful orientation is measured by open-ended questionnaire at the beginning of the education intervention.

The study results will be published on international nursing research journals and the theoretical model for optimal orientation will be published on doctoral dissertation.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* Less than one year from the graduation, willingness to participate

Exclusion Criteria:

* Already a registered nurse, more than one year from the graduation