Perceptions of a statewide nurse mentorship programme: A qualitative study.

Purpose: To describe participants' perception of a formal statewide mentorship programme after changes had been made for programme improvement.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive design using focus group interviews was used to explore the experience of two cohorts of mentors and mentees, who participated in a structured, formalized nurse leader mentorship programme.

Data Analysis: The investigators individually reviewed and analysed the transcripts and reached consensus on common themes using the constant comparison method of analysis.

Relationship among safety culture, nursing care, and Standard Precautions adherence.

Standard Precautions (SP) are an essential, although unmet, component of nursing care. Understanding conditions fostering the integration of SP within nursing workflow is imperative. This research describes the relationships among patient safety culture, adherence to SP, and missed nursing care.

Perceptions of acute care nurse residencies: Perspectives from one state.

Aim: To describe how new nurses transition into practice in acute care settings.

Background: The Institute of Medicine (2010) landmark report, Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health recommends implementing nurse residency programs. However, not all organizations in the state have offered them.

Relationship between patient safety climate and adherence to standard precautions.

Background: Standard precautions (SPs) are designed to limit bloodborne pathogen exposures among health care workers (HCWs) and health care-associated infections. SP adherence is globally suboptimal; however, reasons are underexplored. This study aim was to explore the relationships among safety climate factors and SP adherence by HCWs in hospitals using newly developed survey and observational tools.

Effects of nursing unit spatial layout on nursing team communication patterns, quality of care, and patient safety.

Studies investigating factors contributing to improved quality of care have found that effective team member communication is among the most critical and influential aspects in the delivery of quality care. Relatively little research has examined the role of the physical design of nursing units on communication patterns among care providers. Although the concept of decentralized unit design is intended to increase patient safety, reduce nurse fatigue, and control the noisy, chaotic, and crowded space associated with centralized nursing stations, until recently little attention has been paid to how such nursing unit designs affected communication patterns or other medical and organizational outcomes.

Thinking strategically: academic-practice relationships: one health system's experience.

Strategic planning and joint leverage of the strengths inherent in the academic and practice arenas of nursing are imperative to confront the challenges facing the profession of nursing and its place within the healthcare team of the future. This article presents a description and discussion of the implementation of several academic-practice partnership initiatives by Meridian Health, a health system located in central New Jersey. Included in the strategies discussed are creation of a support program for nonprofessional employees to become registered nurses; active partnership in the development of an accelerated BSN program; construction of support systems and academic partnerships for staff participation in RN-to-BSN programs; construction of on-site clinical simulation laboratories to foster interprofessional learning; and the implementation of a new BSN program, the first and only generic BSN program in two counties of the state.