Poster Presentation
Friday, 21 July 2006
10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Friday, 21 July 2006
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
This presentation is part of : Poster Presentations III
We Got Them Back, Did They Stay? Initial Results of the Effectiveness of an Online RN Refresher Course for Inactive RNs Returning to the Workforce
Sherry Hull, MS, RN, Nursing, Mount Carmel College of Nursing, Columbus, OH, USA and Jami Michelle Nininger, MS, RN, CCRN, Nursing, The Ohio State University College of Nursing, Columbus, OH, USA.
Learning Objective #1: Identify the learning needs of the inactive RN returning to the workforce.
Learning Objective #2: Identify the challenges facing the inactive RN returning to the clinical area in an acute care setting.
Our nation continues to experience a critical nursing shortage that is expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows.  The American Association of Colleges of Nursing reports enrollment in schools of nursing is not growing fast enough to meet the projected demand for nursing over the next ten years.  While it is imperative to continue to recruit new individuals into the profession, we often overlook the potential vast pool of inactive nurses who wish to return to practice.
Purpose:
An internet based RN refresher course was designed to provide a means to recruit nurses back into nursing during a time of essential need within healthcare.  The course was designed to provide the most current nursing knowledge in a convenient, self-paced, yet interactive manner that offered convenience to the individual with family, job or other personal responsibilities.  Knowledge application is facilitated for each student through guided activities and reinforced through instructor support.  The scientific basis of the course focuses on the current health care environment, professional nursing issues and adult medical-surgical nursing concepts.  Clinical practice is facilitated through a one hundred hour practicum completed in an acute care setting.  The practicum is coordinated at a facility within the student’s geographic location. 
Question:
Does the Online RN Refresher Course adequately prepare the inactive registered nurse to re-enter the nursing workforce?
Results:
Satisfaction surveys were conducted immediately after course and again in 6 months to 2 years after course completion.  Questions on the survey attempted to determine the effectiveness of the course in preparing the inactive RN to return to nursing practice.  The poster will emphasize the initial results of these surveys and will provide information concerning learning needs of nurses returning to the profession.

See more of Poster Presentations III
See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)