Outcomes of a Critical Care Hospital-Based Fellowship for Senior Nursing Students

Background: A partnership between four academic sites and one practice site was created to address a gap in baccalaureate nursing education resulting from the lack of pediatric and critical clinical experience. Four schools of nursing (SONs) were invited to recruit senior-level nursing students to participate in a critical care fellowship opportunity during their senior synthesis courses. Method: In a mixed-method evaluation, data were collected through three questionnaires. Results: The findings indicated that the students increased their knowledge and ability in caring for critical pediatric patients. The difference in clinical hours by the SONs did not reveal significant mean differences across measures of self-efficacy, clinical knowledge, or clinical confidence. Conclusion: The critical care hospital-based fellowship can be used as a partnership between a hospital and SONs to expose prelicensure students to clinical experiences and education related to pediatric critical care to decrease nursing shortages in these specialty areas.