New Graduate Nurse Transition Programs and Clinical Leadership Skills in Novice RNs

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine predictors of clinical leadership skill (CLS) for RNs with 24 months of clinical experience or less. BACKGROUND: New graduate nurse transition programs (NGNTPs) have been proposed as a strategy to increase CLS. CLS is associated with positive patient outcomes. METHOD: Method used was hierarchical regression modeling to evaluate predictors of CLS among individual characteristics of RNs and characteristics of NGNTPs. RESULTS: Perceived overall quality of an NGNTP was the strongest predictor of CLS (R-2 = 0.041, P < .01). Clinical experience and NGNTP characteristics accounted for 6.9% of the variance in CLS and 12.6% of the variance among RNs with assigned mentors (P < .01). RNs participating in NGNTPs for more than 24 weeks were 21 times more likely to remain employed within the organization when compared with NGNTPs of 12 weeks or less, a significant cost-benefit to the organization. CONCLUSION: Although perceived overall quality of a NGNTP was the strongest predictor of CLS, much of the variance in CLS remains unexplained.