Assessing the Effectiveness Between Nurse Educator and Clinical Coach Critical Care Training Programs for New Graduate Nurses in the ICU

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to assess the differences in effectiveness between nurse educator–led and clinical coach–led intensive care unit (ICU) training programs for new graduate nurses. BACKGROUND New graduate ICU nurses require substantial clinical training, which is often provided by peers serving as clinical coaches who have not been formally trained for an educator role. Our medical center successfully transitioned from a nurse educator–led to clinical coach–led model for initial ICU education after formally training the clinical coaches. METHODS Nurses enrolled in nurse educator–led (n = 114) or clinical coach–led (n = 166) ICU clinical training programs were compared on program pass rate, satisfaction, preparedness, turnover, and competence. RESULTS There were no statistically significant differences between the groups on any of the identified measures of program effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS Both educator-led and clinical coach–led models, with appropriate training, effectively prepared ICU nurses in this setting. Implementing a clinical coaching model for ICU training of new graduate nurses could assuage common resource issues, such as a shortage of nurse educators, as well as address the increasing demand for well-trained ICU nurses.