Repurposing Kindness: Using Collaboration and Kindness as a Catalyst to Aid Success, Prepare for Practice

Background: In previous years, the National Council of State Boards of Nurses, (NCSBN) and boards of nursing (BONs) have looked at the issues in the training and retention of new graduate nurses. When new nurse have difficulty transitioning, serious consequences can occur. Program issues with persistence, and outcome successes prompted a review of the nursing program at Austin Community College and the personal teaching and professional philosophies of the authors prompted a different approach to the on-boarding of students and the partnering with college and community resources.

It was determined that three distinct changes could be made that would enhance student engagement, aid in the development of relationships, and promote collaboration. Utilizing current research on student engagement and especially the works of Clark (Creating and sustaining civility in nursing education), we determined that orienting students to the culture of nursing, providing access to community and college partners, and modeling kindness or civility in all arenas would have a positive impact and ease the transition to professional practice.

Methods: It was determined that a program wide orientation would be utilized for incoming students and families. This would allow them to meet faculty, other students in their cohort, other nursing students in the program, and the college and community partners. The social setting, availability of food, conversation, and settings would establish a baseline for developing important peer to peer and faculty relationships.

Second, setting the tone for the classroom was established. Behaviors that promoted professionalism, defined incivility, and expectations for classroom culture was discussed. The faculty team was identified and students were assigned on campus faculty that would aid with coursework, questions, or concerns. Each day before lecture, the team greets the students, socialization occurs, and relationships developed.

Lastly, a kindness basket was developed that allows faculty peers to show appreciation for one another. Small tokens, treats, kind words are shared and this creates an environment of collaboration and allows for modeling of this to the students. The authors first distributed the basket, but the faculty have now taken this over.

Findings: This is the first semester of implementation and the project will be ongoing for the next 4 cohorts of students. Preliminary results from student feedback indicate that they feel valued and respected and strong peer groups have already formed. The authors will look at persistence in relation to attendance at the orientation and disseminate data from a student survey in regards to how these activities impact feelings of engagement and support. The professional nursing department surveys its stakeholders as to how well our graduate’s transition and this data will be used to assess success with transition to practice.