PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Growing With Each Residency

As the RN residency continued to grow, an area of expansion was the inclusion of evidence-based practice. As we move forward in developing our knowledge and the application of best practices in our care of patients and families, it is important that our new nurses have an understanding of how evidence-based processes and activities are the foundation of their own nursing practice.

In February of 2022, the residency committee, Magnet department, and the Nursing Research Department began planning for the addition of an evidence-based educational series for the professional development of our RN residents. The first RN resident cohorts to begin the six-month series started in July 2022 for the

Loma Linda University Medical Center program and September 2022 for the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital program. The new program was designed so that each cohort would participate in six, four-hour, in-person sessions during the last six months of their residency. A total of three adult cohorts and three children’s cohorts (approximately 300 nurses) will participate in this process each year moving forward.

The evidence-based practice sessions were developed to take a healthcare issue/problem through the evidence-based process using the Johns Hopkins EBP Model and Process. The unit/service line teams of four to six individuals were assigned a selected topic from a collaboration between the Nursing Research Department and Unit Nursing leadership. Some of the topics included civility in the workplace, delirium prevention, family involvement, handoff communication, mental health, alarm fatigue and teamwork.

The teams developed a PICO question, completed a brief review of the literature, assessed quality and level of the evidence, and then designed a change protocol. Due to time constraints, the residents do not implement their change project. This could be done by the units, with nurses advancing on the clinical ladder or by professional governance councils. In addition to the development of a change protocol, the RN residents also learned how to write an abstract for a poster submission to a professional nursing organization. Furthermore, the RN residents learned how to develop and present a poster. Their team posters were presented during their graduation celebrations in January and March with first, second and third place awards given out.