Supporting the learning curve for contemporary nursing practice.

Contemporary patient care demands expert nurses with advanced clinical judgment and reasoning abilities. Expertise develops for an extended experiential learning process of 5 years or more and cannot be accomplished through educational preparation alone. Current approaches to orientations, residencies, and care delivery do not support the learning curve to expert practice.

Achieving quality and fiscal outcomes in patient care: the clinical mentor care delivery model.

Contemporary patient care requires sophisticated clinical judgment and reasoning in all nurses. However, the level of development regarding these abilities varies within a staff. Traditional care models lack the structure and process to close the expertise gap creating potential patient safety risks.

Organizational turnaround: the role of the nurse executive.

For some hospitals, the complex issues associated with the current healthcare environment have resulted in progressive destabilization. In these situations, organizational turnaround is imperative to renew profitability and remain viable. As the administrator of the largest employee group, the nurse executive plays a central role in the turnaround process.