Degree Name

Nursing Practice, DNP

Publication Date

4-25-2026

First Advisor

Sandy King

Second Advisor

Beverly Clark

Abstract

The professional transition from clinician to educator is often complicated by a lack of formal training and professional development. This gap in training and support compromises the delivery of nursing education and leads to feelings of inadequacy, diminished confidence, and higher rates of attrition. This quality improvement (QI) project seeks to improve the quality of clinical education by evaluating the impact of a structured onboarding process on a novice nurse educator’s self-efficacy and perceived support. Guided by Lewin’s Change Theory and Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, the project aims to enhance the onboarding process for novice nurse educators. The Find, Organize, Clarify, Understand, and Select - Plan, Do, Study, and Act (FOCUS-PDSA) framework guided the development of this quasi-experimental, pre-/post-survey QI project. Five novice educators participated in a ten-week onboarding that included mentorship, training modules, and a resource toolkit. Data was collected using the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) and support questions by Sara McPherson and M. Cecilia Wendler. A paired sample t-test revealed statistically significant improvements in both outcome measures. The GSE scores improved from pre-intervention (M = 3.12) to a post-intervention (M = 4.66), and the perceived support scores improved from pre-intervention (M = 3.05) to (M = 4.50) post-intervention. Limitations included the small sample size and the potential for social desirability bias. Transitioning from clinical practice to academia requires targeted development. Standardizing onboarding, with a dedicated mentor, can bridge this gap and improve self-efficacy, while equipping novice educators with the tools needed to better prepare nursing students for professional practice.

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