Please cite this article in press as: Madhuvu AE, et al. An exploration of participants’ experience of an intensive care nursing transition to specialty practice program. Aust Crit Care (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aucc.2017.08.005 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model AUCC-390; No. of Pages 6 Australian Critical Care xxx (2017) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Australian Critical Care j ourna l h o mepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/aucc An exploration of participants’ experience of an intensive care nursing transition to specialty practice program Auxillia E. Madhuvu RN, MN a,b,c,* Associate Professor Virginia Plummer RN, PhD, Critical Care Cert a,d Dr Julia Morphet PhD, MN Education, Grad Cert Health Professional Education, Grad Dip Emergency Nursing, RN a,b a School of Nursing and Midwifery, Monash University, McMahons Road, Frankston, Victoria, Australia b Monash Health, Dandenong Hospital, 135 David Street, Dandenong, Victoria, Australia c Nursing Department, Holmesglen Institute, 488 South Road, Moorabbin, Victoria, Australia d Peninsula Health, Frankston Hospital, 2 Hastings Road, Frankston, Victoria, Australia a r t i c l e i n f o r m a t i o n Article history: Received 1 March 2017 Received in revised form 16 August 2017 Accepted 25 August 2017 Keywords: Intensive care nurse education Intensive care nursing Intensive care unit Nurse Orientation Retention Transition to specialty practice Work based education a b s t r a c t Background: Transition to specialty practice programs were developed to support, educate and facilitate recruitment and retention of nurses in specialised areas of practice. The intensive care nursing transition to specialty practice program in this study was implemented in 2000. To date, in Australia there are no published studies which focus on intensive care nursing transition to specialty practice programs. Objectives: The study aimed to explore the effects of an intensive care nursing transition to specialty practice program offered in two intensive care units in a single Australian health service. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used. Quantitative data were collected from nurses who participated in the transition to specialty practice program from 2005 to 2015 using an anonymous online survey. Summary statistics and Chi-square tests were used to analyse the data. Results: The response rate was 51.8% (n = 86). Most of the transition to specialty practice program par- ticipants had medical nursing experience (n = 35, 40.7%) or surgical nursing experience (n = 35, 40.7%) prior to enrolling into the program. More than half (n = 46, 53.5%) of the participants had worked in the intensive care units for more than two years post program. The majority of the participants (n = 60, 69.8%) undertook post graduate education after the transition to specialty practice program. Conclusion: Significant numbers of experienced nurses undertook transition to specialty practice program into intensive care and majority of the participants reported positive results of the program. © 2017 Australian College of Critical Care Nurses Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Intensive care nurses are integral to the safe delivery of care in intensive care units (ICU) as patients are highly vulnerable, often unstable with complex conditions and require intense and vigilant nursing care. Nurses working in an ICU should possess advanced skills in nursing care as well as knowledge of the complex con- ditions patients are likely to present with. 1 The severity of illness of ICU patients requires highly skilled nurses with sound assess- ment skills, who can make appropriate and timely clinical decisions in addition to all other fundamental nursing skills. 2 Comprehen- * Corresponding author at: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Monash University, McMahons Road, Frankston, Victoria, Australia. E-mail address: auxillia.madhuvu@monash.edu (A.E. Madhuvu). sive assessment of ICU patients is crucial especially when they are sedated, ventilated and cannot verbally communicate. 3 Therefore, nurses’ high-level assessment and communication skills would be important. 2 The Australian College of Critical Care Nurses (ACCCN) recom- mended that ICU nurses should hold an intensive care nursing qualification provided by a higher education institute as nurse’s knowledge or qualifications are some of the factors which influ- ence patient outcomes. 4,5 The ACCCN 4 further recommended that organisations that employ registered nurses without intensive care qualifications, have a responsibility to support the nurse to seek the required qualification which suggests that the emphasis is on patient safety. Transition to specialty practice programs (TSPPs) were devel- oped by health care organisations as an introduction (prior to post graduate study) to prepare nurses without ICU qualifications to http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aucc.2017.08.005 1036-7314/© 2017 Australian College of Critical Care Nurses Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.