Essential Psychomotor Skills for New Graduate Nurses as Identified by Medical-Surgical Nurse Preceptors: A Delphi Study

BACKGROUND: Nursing programs teach many psychomotor skills that are not practiced enough for students to achieve mastery, leading to skill decay. Teaching fewer psychomotor skills could improve skill performance, yet there is no consensus about which skills are most essential. PURPOSE: Identify psychomotor skills essential for new graduate nurses (NGNs) to master upon graduation for medical-surgical nursing practice. METHODS: A 3-round Delphi survey was administered to experienced medical-surgical nurses who precept NGNs. Twenty participants completed all 3 rounds. RESULTS: From a beginning list of 245 psychomotor skills, 112 reached consensus (defined a priori as ≥80%) as being important for NGNs to master on graduation. CONCLUSION: This list provides evidence about which psychomotor skills were identified as most important for NGNs to master during their nursing program. Educators can use this list to inform which skills to teach and reinforce.