Student Name

Capella University

NURS-FPX6116 Nursing Education Assessment and Evaluation

professor Name

Submission Date

Course Definition and Alignment

The course “Transition to Professional Nursing Practice” is an essential part of the Nurse Residency Program provided in the hospital setting for newly licensed registered nurses. This course is dedicated to facilitating the transition from the educational setting to the practice setting through the integration of evidence-based practice, clinical decision-making, and patient-focused care. The course is provided as a blended format with the intention of creating a supportive environment for trainee nurses. The focus is on the development of nursing competence, professional confidence, and effective collaboration with the healthcare team. The course is aligned with the National Transition to Professional Nursing Practice is a required course for newly licensed registered nurses in the hospital setting as part of the Nurse Residency Program. This course is designed to encourage the transition from the educational to the practice environment by incorporating evidence-based practice, clinical decision-making, and patient-centered care. The course is offered in a blended format with the aim of providing a supportive environment for trainee nurses. Emphasis is placed on developing nursing competence, confidence, and effective teamwork with the health care team. To help novice nurses provide safe and high-quality patient care in the complex healthcare system, the course is aligned with national nursing standards. Nal nursing standards to ensure the novice nurses provide safe and high-quality patient care in the complex healthcare system.

Program Offering

Description

A Nurse Residency Program for New Graduate Registered Nurses is a career path that is offered in a hospital setting with the intent to assist the new graduate registered nurse in transitioning to the role of a professional nurse. The residency program is a career development opportunity for new graduate registered nurses to help them transition to the practice in various health care environments, particularly in acute care environments (Mohammad & Al-Hmaimat, 2024). The residency program offers new graduate registered nurses a complete educational experience that builds on their clinical skills, critical thinking, and decision-making, emphasizes evidence-based practice, patient safety, quality improvement, and interprofessional collaboration. The purpose of a nurse residency program is to create a supportive and educationally nurturing environment for the new graduate registered nurse (NGRN) to ease the transition into the practice of nursing with an emphasis on enhancing patient outcomes, reducing clinical errors, and promoting nurse retention over time (Rae et al., 2025). A residency program is a 6-12 month educational experience where a new graduate registered nurse (RN) can be supported in their transition into practice as a professional registered nurse (PRN) with a focus on developing graduates who are confident and competent practitioners who can provide safe and effective patient care in a variety of healthcare environments.

Program Learning Outcomes for Nurse Residency Program

Clinical Competence and Patient Safety

• A student’s knowledge of clinical competence and patient safety.
• Deliver safe, evidence-based clinical practices that are patient-centered.

Critical Thinking and Judgment

• Use clinical reasoning and decision-making skills in complex patient care situations.
• Identify changes in patients’ conditions and act accordingly by using clinical judgment skills.

Interprofessional Collaboration

• Work effectively in a team of interdisciplinary healthcare professionals in coordinating patient care.
• Use effective communication skills in interacting with patients, families, and healthcare professionals.

Career development and Responsibility

• Demonstrate accountability and adherence to ethical standards in practice.
• Use reflective practice in support of lifelong learning and career development.

Course Title: “Transition to Professional Nursing Practice”

Course Definition

Length of Course

This course is an 8-week-long course in the Nurse Residency Program. The Course sessions are 3 hours per week. The Course is a combination of synchronous, simulation, and group learning. All of the course concepts are applied in the hospital, during the residents’ designated shifts.

Purpose of the Course (Rationale)

The course aims to prepare the newly licensed registered nurses to make the transition from the academic environment to the practice environment. It’s not easy to make the switch to a professional nurse, especially in the hospital environment, where responsibility and patient care are required. The course assists new nurses to strengthen their clinical skills, confidence, and professionalism (Lye et al., 2025). The course will emphasize using evidence-based practice as a tool in the decision-making process in the clinical setting. This will ensure the residents are provided nursing care that is safe, effective, and meets nursing care standards of practice. The course provides for simulation training, which increases critical thinking and flexibility. The way of learning is in line with the nursing world standards, including safety and quality.

Target Audience

This course is designed for newly licensed registered nurses in a Nurse Residency Program in a hospital setting. These are new graduate nurses who are trying to get into their first position in a nursing program. Registered nurses with restricted clinical experiences who want to extend and improve their clinical skills, self-confidence, and nursing competencies in a hospital environment would find this course beneficial as well.

Credit Hours, Location, and Rationale

This course is a career development, non-credit hour course within a hospital/healthcare setting Nurse Residency Program. It is added to the Nurse Residency Program to address gaps in knowledge in clinical practice readiness, such as clinical judgment, communication, and evidence-based practices. It is part of the program to help integrate it into national standards and to increase the preparedness of new graduate nurses in a hospital environment.

Course Learning Objectives

• To implement evidence-based clinical practices safely and effectively in providing care for our patients.
• To be able to illustrate the clinical reasoning and decision-making process in different clinical and patient care scenarios.
• To be able to demonstrate basic nursing skills and procedures correctly and safely.
• To be able to effectively work together and collaborate with other health care professionals to provide coordinated care to patients.

Evaluation and Assessment Strategies and Examples

• To assess students’ knowledge of clinical concepts and evidence-based practices (Cognitive domain) before and after the course, using a pre- and post-course test.
• To perform a performance assessment through simulation or simulated scenarios of the students’ clinical skills and decision making in the area (Psychomotor domain).
• To assess the extent of career development and emotional reaction of the students to the clinical work done by them (Affective domain).
• To evaluate by applying peer feedback, regarding students’ own contribution to the group sessions and analysis of case studies through co-operation.
• To perform a final competency test that would give students an opportunity for students to demonstrate patient care skills and evidence-based practice skills.

Assumption

              There are several assumptions made in this course. One, The first assumption indicates that new graduate registered nurses require help as they make their transition to practice,; second, nurses should base their practice on evidence; this will help them improve patient outcomes/services delivery and assist them in making informed choices (Matlhaba & Nkoane 2024); third, nurses should utilize active learning strategies that help develop their conceptual and practical understanding of nursing skills; and fourth, career development is an ongoing process that requires continuous commitment/engagement throughout one’s career.

Alignment Tables

Table 01

 Course Learning Objectives to Assessments and Domains of Learning

Description of Assessment and Evaluation Strategies

            The course has assessment procedures for cognitive, psychomotor, and affective aspects of learning. There are two types of assessments that are used to assess student learning: formative and summative. Formative assessment can take the form of quizzes, group discussions, and written journals. Simulations and competency exams (Aase et al., 2022) could be components of summative assessments. Formative assessments: help the student to evaluate his/her learning, while Summative assessments: show the amount of knowledge/skill that a student has acquired.

Knowledge Gap

            The content of a course is well structured, but there are still some weaknesses in the course design. For instance, the experience gained by residents is different, and they have different learning styles (Mohamed et al., 2024). Additionally, due to the subjective nature of these variables being measured (affective), it is difficult to measure progress.

Table 02

 Course Learning Objectives to Program Outcomes

Quality of Alignment

              A correspondence exists among the learning objectives in the courses in this program, such that the student may be confident that he or she has met all the learning objectives for the degree. The outcome measure is the overall degree outcome measure that is expressed for each program provided. The combination of the clinical component of each of the three phases within the clinical training program, as well as the simulation elements in this program, provides ample evidence that there exists an alignment among courses within this whole program. Therefore, students’ learning can be meaningfully measured in several different courses in the program, and a conclusion can be drawn that an alignment exists.

Conclusion

The course Transition to Professional Nursing Practice is an integral component of our Nurse Residency Program, as it will allow new nursing graduates to get the support they need as they move into professional nursing practice. The course emphasizes evidence-based practice, clinical competence, and career development that are in harmony with the overall outcomes of the program as well as national nursing outcomes. There is also the bonus of this course being based on all three areas of learning: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. Finally, this course helps nurses to become confident, competent providers who provide quality and safe patient care in a healthcare environment.