Dr. Heidi Keeler of the University of Nebraska Medical Center knew nursing preceptors played a key role in stabilizing the nursing workforce and reducing turnover. In the Guest Editorial of our July/August 2024 issue, Dr. Keeler highlights their use of federal grant funding to create a comprehensive standardized curriculum for nurse preceptor training.

Seattle Children’s Hospital, like many hospitals across the country, has felt the sting of high nurse turnover throughout the last few years. As the hospital’s nursing professional development (NPD) team investigated the causes behind turnover, they identified a weak point: an inconsistent new nurse check-in process. 

In the nursing world, “transition to practice” and “bridging the gap between theory and practice” are frequently used to describe the progression from academia into practice and the disconnect many new nurses experience when comparing their didactic knowledge and the actual practice setting. This article discusses strategies to address common challenges in both the academic and practice setting for nursing students.