ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Helping newly graduated registered nurses successfully adapt to clinical practice, evaluating work capabilities, identifying deficiencies, and continuously providing educational support to improve deficiencies are reported to be of paramount importance. OBJECTIVES: To develop a tailored nursing practice preparation improvement program for newly graduated registered nurses and assess its impact on the successful adaptation of nurses. DESIGN: A quasi-experimental study. SETTINGS: The study was performed at a tertiary general hospital in South Korea. PARTICIPANT: A total of 53 newly graduated registered nurses (experimental group = 28; comparison group = 25) participated. METHODS: The newly graduated registered nurses were recruited using purposive sampling to one of two groups. The study was conducted between February and May 2022. The experimental group underwent a 4-week education program that integrated various methods, whereas the control group underwent preceptor training in their department. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey and analyzed using the chi-square test, independent t-test, and analysis of covariance with the SPSS 26.0 program. RESULTS: The nursing practice readiness improvement program tailored for newly graduated registered nurses was effective in reducing the transition shock (F = 9.18, p = 0.004) of newly graduated registered nurses and improving nursing practice readiness (F = 19.90, p < 0.001), job satisfaction (F = 4.09, p = 0.049), and retention intention (F = 6.20, p = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS: This study presented an evidence based approach on the use of a nursing practice readiness improvement program for the successful adaptation of newly graduated registered nurses and the establishment of a nurse education system.