Younger nurses and those with 1 year or less of nursing experience were significantly more likely to have self-assessed their abilities at a much higher level compared with their actual skills.

AIMThis study investigated graduate nurse readiness for practice after receiving virtual clinical replacement experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.BACKGROUNDThe pandemic led to the closure of clinical sites for many undergraduate nursing students. Nurse educators replaced the hospital setting with virtual clinical replacement experiences, potentially affecting readiness for practice in graduate nurses.METHODThe Casey-Fink Graduate Nurse Experience Survey was used to collect data in the areas of demographics, comfort level with skills, work environment stress, job satisfaction, role transition, and the impact of the virtual clinical experience on transition to practice. Descriptive statistics and independent t-tests were used for analysis.RESULTSThe virtual clinical replacement experience was statistically significant with greater confidence in providing for patient safety, stronger professional communication/leadership skills, and recognized support in the workplace.CONCLUSIONThe use of virtual clinical replacement experiences had a positive impact on new graduate nurses’ transition to practice.

This article reports the experiences of two schools of nursing using a virtual community (VC) and how integrated teaching strategies were developed, which lessened the gap between didactic and clinical applications. Exemplars for nursing education practice are highlighted. The term context as used in nursing education, means placing the particular concept, topic, or skill in a setting where it is given enhanced meaning to the learner. This strategy allows nursing students to better retain knowledge and apply new concepts. The VC detailed in this article provides students with such context to enhance learning. It also enhances student engagement by adding an additional level of complexity and richness. One advantage of the VC is the ability to present nursing education beyond the acute inpatient care setting. The VC allows students to observe how illness progresses and exacerbations occur. This pedagogical shift moves from content-driven didactic instruction to a learner-centered approach.

Diabetes is a significant health care issue that requires healthcare providers to be both knowledgeable about the disease and have positive attitudes toward diabetes self-care issues. Nursing students receive a tremendous amount of information about diabetes in their undergraduate education but it is often presented without an opportunity for application. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of an experiential learning innovation with junior level baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in a medical-surgical nursing class. In addition to the traditional classroom presentations, students were randomly assigned to "live with diabetes" (LWD) (n = 106) or a control group (n = 109). The intervention group students took on one of five diabetic personnas representing the most common treatment regimens for Type I and Type II diabetes. The intervention group reflectively journaled daily about their experiences, observations and thoughts about living with diabetes. The Brief Diabetes Knowledge Test (BDKT) and the Diabetes Attitude Scale (DAS-3) were administered in a pre and posttest fashion at the beginning and end of the diabetes unit of the course. Significant improvement occurred for all students in both knowledge and attitude (p ≤ .005). Although the additional effort of providing the LWD experience may enhance the improvements, simply calling attention to the chronicity and demands of diabetes self-care through various experiential learning opportunities may promote student learning and understanding.