Innovative Approach to Senior Practicum Students.

BACKGROUND: Traditional senior practicum experiences (SPEs) are microsystem based-they allow senior nursing students the opportunity to build professional nursing competencies as they transition into practice. As health care transformation continues unabated, there is a need to work toward closing the gap between nursing academia and nursing practice.

METHOD: A cardiovascular service line created an innovative SPE to better prepare senior nursing students for working as professional nurses in a service line model.

RESULTS: The Senior Practicum Immersion Experience (SPIE) proved to be beneficial to senior practicum students and offered firsthand experience of the role professional nurses play in a service line model. This model increased the number of senior practicum students accepted into the cardiac service line by 50%.

CONCLUSION: The SPIE creates an innovative solution to increasing the number of senior practicum students while allowing students the ability to learn and practice in a service line model. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(12):745-747.].