A critical care bridging program to prepare fourth-year baccalaureate students for specialty practice.

Background: The preparation, recruitment and retention of qualified critical care nurses represents a major challenge in this era of health human resource constraints.

Purpose: To assess the impact of a critical care bridging program (CCBP) on students' confidence (self-efficacy) to care for critically ill patients.

Method: A convenience sample of students and their preceptors was used in this pilot study.

Results: Student and preceptor mean self-efficacy scores showed improvement following the CCBP. Preceptors reported significant improvement in students' confidence in all subscales except self-development.

Conclusion: Innovative educational approaches for the preparation of new graduates to critical care environments are needed.