No abstract

An exploratory study was conducted to identify whether the incidence of depression was greater among blind adolescents than among a sighted comparison group. A convenience sample of 22 adolescents, legally blind since birth, and 29 sighted adolescents participated in the study. The adolescents in both samples were between the ages of 12 and 18. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to measure depression. The findings indicated that the incidence of depression among the blind adolescents was significantly higher than the incidence of depression among the sighted adolescents (t = 2.937, df = 50, p < .005). Mean BDI score was 7.103 for the sighted group and 13.652 for the blind group. There were no significant relationships between demographic variables and depression. This study serves as a pilot for more extensive research that can expand the empirical base for understanding depression and its relationship to visual impairment among adolescents.

Four transition-to-practice programs for new RN graduates who had not yet found employment in nursing were based on the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) competencies of knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs). To support consistent evaluation of participants by preceptors, a 35-item tool was developed that used a 4-point scale to assess selected behaviors. This article describes the initial reliability and validity testing of the tool, which had good internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.92 for preceptor evaluation of participants and 0.82 when used as a self-evaluation tool. Six content experts evaluated the tool's face validity; it successfully discriminated between junior-level baccalaureate nursing students and nursing faculty. Although the tool does not exhaustively reflect the QSEN KSAs, it provides a way to assess competencies among new nurse graduates.

Multiple reports document competence gaps among employed new RN graduates. Less is known about the competence and confidence of new RN graduates who have not yet found employment in nursing. As part of an academic/practice partnership model, 4 collaboratives provided transition-to-practice programs for newly graduated and licensed, but unemployed, RNs. The authors describe the new nurses' characteristics on program entry and discuss implications for nursing education and practice.

The acute shortage of RNs is both well established and projected to continue. Two primary factors contributing to the nursing shortage are insufficient numbers of faculty and insufficient clinical sites for students. Innovative academic-service partnerships are realigning these scarce resources to improve the quality of clinical education and build cultures of safety. Relationships among students, staff nurses, faculty, and the institutions where they practice are central to students' socialization, professional role development, and transition to practice. Five recommendations to strengthen these professional relationships are suggested to: reenvision nursing student-staff nurse relationships, reconceptualize the clinical faculty role, enhance development for school-based faculty and staff nurses working with students, reexamine the depth and breadth of the clinical component, and strengthen the evidence for best practices in clinical nursing education. Five key outcomes are suggested to evaluate both traditional and emerging approaches to clinical nursing education.