State of Nursing Skill Acquisition among Newly Graduated Nurses and Expectations of Instructors and Chief Nurses

Abstract

In the present study, we investigated the current state of nursing skill acquisition among newly graduated nurses and the related expectations of instructors and chief nurses. Subjects comprised 92 second-year nurses, 98 instructors and 57 chief nurses. A questionnaire survey was conducted regarding ability to perform 45 basic nursing skills. A total of 57.6% of second-year nurses were unable to independently perform even one of 45 identified nursing skill items at the time of hiring. Furthermore, 16.3% had had no opportunity to perform 20 or more of the skill items. With regard to expectations for skill acquisition, 48.0% of instructors and 33.3% of chief nurses did not expect newly graduated nurses to be able to independently perform any skills at the time of hiring but anticipated they would be capable of doing so within one year. It was expected that nurses would be able to perform skills related to life-saving emergency treatment if they received instruction during their first year of employment.
These findings demonstrate the importance of improving skill training during practice in undergraduate courses. The need for a continuous education program linking undergraduate with postgraduate education is also suggested.