The effect of Multidimensional Orientation Program on the Clinical Competence of Beginner Nurses Working in Intensive Care Units: a Quasi-Experimental Study

Nurses of Intensive Care Units (ICUs) require significant clinical competence due to the critical condition of patients and the optimal use of modern medical equipment. Due to the lack of experienced nurses, it is sometimes necessary to recruit new nurses in these departments, which requires the implementation of interventions to empower them quickly. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the multi-faceted familiarization program on the clinical competence of beginner nurses working in Intensive Care Units of public hospitals in Yazd.

In this quasi-experimental study, the respondents were selected by census sampling method. A number of 32 Beginner nurses working in special departments of teaching hospitals in Yazd city were randomly assigned to two control and test groups (19 people in the control group and 13 people in the test group) with moderate and poor clinical qualifications to enter the study. They received the test of the Multidimensional Orientation program including 20 hours of training, support and counseling during 6 months. Educational subjects for the control group were provided to them in the form of educational booklets without holding face-to-face classes. The tool for data collection was the nurses' clinical competence questionnaire, which was completed and compared in the form of self-assessment before the intervention, immediately after the intervention and after three months. The data was entered into SPSS software version 22 and descriptive statistical tests (mean, standard deviation and absolute and relative frequency) and inferential (independent t-test, paired t-test and repeated measures test) were became used.

The clinical competency scores of nurses working in ICUs based on self-assessment before the intervention was (156.75±7.7), immediately after the program was (176.55±24.75), and three months later was (191.4±23.65) for the experimental group. These scores for the control group before the intervention was (144.65±24.2), immediately after the program was (140.8±26.85), and three months later was (132±16.5). So, there was a significant difference between the two groups.

The current study showed that the Multidimensional Orientation program consisting of counseling, supervision and support training using theoretical and practical training methods in different fields can increase the clinical competence of novice nurses. Therefore, it is recommended to continue using this program in pre-service training and retraining and in other nursing departments