Are we there yet? Graduate readiness for practice, assessment and final examinations
Section snippets
Summary of relevance
Problem
Graduating Registered nursing students are not fully prepared for their role as a Registered Nurse on completion of their undergraduate degree.
What is already known
Research has found that qualified nurses hold differing expectations of new graduates’ knowledge and skills. Issues have been highlighted with newly graduated nurses’ basic clinical skills, knowledge deficits around medications and other factors, poorly developed communication skills, and unprofessional behavior.
What this
Design
This paper is part of a larger study using a cross-sectional survey using a mixed methods approach to explore the work readiness of newly registered nursing graduates (Missen, McKenna & Beauchamp, 2015; Missen, McKenna & Beauchamp, 2016a; Missen, McKenna, Beauchamp & Larkins, 2016b). The specific purpose of this paper is to address the following research question:
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Should a national registration examination be made mandatory on the completion of undergraduate nursing studies in Australia in order
Results
A total of 148 responses were provided to the yes/no question: Should a national registration examination be made mandatory on the completion of undergraduate nursing studies in Australia to become registered with AHPRA? Please state your reasons for your response. Of these, 75 (50.7%) were in support of a national examination for registration, 67 (45.3%) were not in support, and six (4.1%) were unsure if they supported or opposed, but still had comments to add. A range of reasons were provided
Discussion
As part of a larger study this aspect sought to examine nurses’ perceptions about the need for a standardised nursing registration examination. Findings suggest that mixed feelings remain around this issue and highlight some of the key perceptions in existence, with roughly equal numbers of surveyed nurses for and against, and few voicing middle ground views. Clearly, this is an issue that continues to polarise aspects of the profession. Despite thirty years in the higher education sector, it
Limitations
There are some limitations inherent in this study. This research was conducted in one state of Australia and subsequently results may not be transferable to other states and internationally. Due to the non-probability sampling approach used in this research, where nurses with a specific interest in this topic would most likely respond to this survey, the results are only associated with the sample and cannot be generalised to the entire population of qualified nurses.
Conclusion
Considerable research has examined graduate readiness for practice. This study sought nurses’ views on a national registration examination and highlighted polarised views. Findings suggest that there are aspects of the education system that still require attention. Universities have a responsibility to ensure assessment items across the curriculum appropriately measure all aspects for meeting registration standards and provide necessary levels of support to those undertaking clinical
Conflict of Interest
There is no conflict of interest.
Funding Statement
There was no funding received for this project.
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