Challenging Assumptions: Association Between Clinical Hours, Simulation, and Work Experience and New Graduate Nurse Practice Readiness

BACKGROUND: Extensive clinical hours and prior health care experience are widely believed to enhance new graduate nurse practice readiness, yet supporting evidence is limited. PURPOSE: To examine relationships between new graduate practice readiness and clinical hours, proportion of simulation hours, and prior health care experience. METHODS: This post hoc analysis used demographic data from a cross-sectional study evaluating effects of education delivery models on practice readiness. The 189 students from 8 Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs completed surveys during their final 6 weeks. Program directors reported clinical and simulation hours. ANOVA and nonparametric equivalents examined relationships. RESULTS: No significant associations were found between practice readiness and total clinical hours, between practice readiness and percentage of simulation hours, or between practice readiness and prior health care employment. CONCLUSION: Findings challenge assumptions, suggesting that quantity of clinical hours and prior health care experience are not associated with practice readiness.