Cape Fear Valley Health Chosen For Landmark Nursing Study

FAYETTEVILLE – Cape Fear Valley Health is one of 112 hospitals nationwide chosen to participate in a landmark study of how well new nursing graduates transition into their chosen career.

The Transition to Practice Study (TTPS) will run from July 2011 through December 2012, evaluating patient safety and quality outcomes in transition-to-practice programs among the participating hospitals. National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) is conducting the study.

All new nurses must undergo transition-to-practice training to help deal with the rigorous demands of nursing. Cape Fear Valley Health’s nursing orientation program lasts 12 weeks, on average, and teaches everything from nursing policy and procedure to building confidence and clinical skills.

The TTPS study will be the first national study to analyze patient outcomes directly relating to nursing orientation programs. Participating hospitals will either be assigned a standardized training model or allowed to use their own orientation program.

Patient outcomes, such as infection rates, medication errors, patient satisfaction and nurse retention rates, from each hospital will then be reported back to NCSBN for study.

NCSBN is a not-for-profit organization created to provide state boards of nursing an avenue to act and counsel together on matters of common interest, such as public health, safety and welfare, and the development of nursing license examinations.