The Dedicated Education Unit Experience

Abstract

Dedicated Education Units (DEU) may be one strategy for staff development educators to address new graduate nurse transition to practice and turnover within the first year of practice. This qualitative study explored the experiences of students and staff nurses from the inaugural DEU at Research College of Nursing and Research Medical Center. The themes identified suggest that students who were educated in the DEU model may be better prepared to practice in the "real world" of nursing than their peers who were not.

The potential value of academic practice organization partnerships in facilitating a positive transition experience for Canadian new graduate nurses

“…Academic and practice organizations have collaboratively developed dedicated education units [DEU] to enhance nursing students' clinical learning during their undergraduate education (Saxton, Warmbrodt, Mahley, Reberry, & McCeece, 2015;Moscato, Miller, Logsdon, Weinberg, & Chorpenning, 2007;Murray, Crain, Meyes, McDonough, & Schweiss, 2010;Lovecchio, Di Mattio, & Hudacek, 2012). The provision of realistic clinical experiences on DEUs affords students the opportunity to develop professional practice competencies before graduation, thus preparing them for transition to the nursing role (Saxton et al, 2015;Moscato et al, 2007;Murray et al, 2010;Lovecchio et al, 2012). DEUs reviewed in this section aimed to provide nursing students with optimal, enriching, real-world clinical education by collaboratively facilitating the application of classroom knowledge at the bedside (Saxton et al, 2015;Moscato et al, 2007;Murray et al, 2010;Lovecchio et al, 2012).…”

“…The provision of realistic clinical experiences on DEUs affords students the opportunity to develop professional practice competencies before graduation, thus preparing them for transition to the nursing role (Saxton et al, 2015;Moscato et al, 2007;Murray et al, 2010;Lovecchio et al, 2012). DEUs reviewed in this section aimed to provide nursing students with optimal, enriching, real-world clinical education by collaboratively facilitating the application of classroom knowledge at the bedside (Saxton et al, 2015;Moscato et al, 2007;Murray et al, 2010;Lovecchio et al, 2012). Four DEU programs from the USA are described in the literature.…”

“…The role of academic faculty in DEU programs also differed. In all reviewed DEU's, academic faculty supported staff-nurse clinical instructors or preceptors to guide nursing students and retained responsibility for student evaluation (Saxton et al, 2015;Moscato et al, 2007;Murray et al, 2010;Lovecchio et al, 2012). In some DEU's, nursing staff were given an orientation to their role as preceptor or instructor that involved becoming familiar with teaching and learning strategies (Murray et al, 2010;Saxton et al, 2015).…”

“…Evaluation of DEUs resulted in entirely positive outcomes, including the development of skills related to delegation, critical thinking, decision-making, assessment, communication, prioritization and task orientation (Murray et al, 2010;Moscato et al, 2007;Lovecchio et al, 2012). Initiative evaluations further indicated that DEUs support students' understanding of and appreciation for holistic nursing care (Murray et al, 2010;Saxton et al, 2015). Students also indicated that learning on the DEU was superior to learning in a traditional clinical setting (Lovecchio et al, 2012).…”

“…Academic-practice organization partnership initiatives facilitated the development of practice competencies, familiarized students with the nursing role, and developed NGNs' organization, prioritization, communication and leadership skills (Harrison et al, 2007;Ruth-Sahd et al, 2010;Liaw et al, 2014;Liaw et al, 2015;Murray et al, 2010;Moscato et al, 2007;Saxton et al, 2015;Krugman et al, 2006;Williams et al, 2007;Goode et al, 2009;Kowalski & Cross, 2010;Keller et al, 2006). Satisfaction and control over practice data from three studies evaluating NRIs suggest that participating in such initiatives mitigates NGNs' experience of reality shock during the transition period (Williams et al, 2007).…”