Effect of a Supportive-Educational and a Supportive-Only Program on Novice Nurses' Clinical Competency: A Quasi-Experimental Study in Iranian Teaching Hospitals

TL;DR

This study compared two programs to improve the skills of new nurses in Iran, finding that a supportive-educational program was more effective than a supportive-only approach.

Contribution

The study introduces a comparative analysis of two interventions to enhance novice nurses' clinical competency in a real-world hospital setting.

Findings

The supportive-educational program significantly improved clinical competency scores compared to the control group.

The supportive-only program also improved competency, but less effectively than the supportive-educational program.

Both interventions offer viable options for hospitals to enhance nurse training based on available resources.

Abstract

Enhancing the clinical competency of novice nurses remains a critical concern in nursing management. This study aimed to determine the effects of a supportive-educational and a supportive-only intervention on the competency levels of novice nurses.

We conducted a quasi-experimental study with three parallel groups in three teaching hospitals in Mashhad, Iran. A total of 97 novice nurses participated and were allocated into three groups based on their hospital assignments. The first intervention group received a four-week supportive-educational program tailored for novice nurses. The second intervention group participated in a supportive-only program targeting nurse managers, and the control group completed the routine hospital orientation. Competency was measured using the Creighton Competency Evaluation Instrument (C-CEI) at baseline and two months later by head nurses. Data were analyzed with Stata 17 at a 0.05 significance level.

After adjusting for pre-intervention scores, the supportive-educational intervention group showed a statistically significant improvement in competency scores compared to
the control group (β=10.86, p=0.006, 95% CI: 5.28, 16.44). The supportive-only program also demonstrated a significant statistical effect on nurse competency (β=5.20, p=0.049, 95% CI: 0.01, 10.39).
However, the improvement was less pronounced than that observed in the supportive-educational intervention group.

Both supportive-educational and supportive-only programs improved the novice nurses’ clinical competency, with the supportive-educational intervention producing more pronounced effects. These findings suggest that both programs can be implemented in clinical settings to enhance novice nurses’ clinical competency, with the choice tailored to resources, staff capacity, and institutional needs.

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