Developing Professional Nurses

Baccalaureate education is intended to develop nurseswho can function beyond task-focused roles, andinstead serve as professionals with a broad range ofcompetencies and critical thinking skills. Giventhis desired state of professional practice, one ofthe primary goals of baccalaureate nursing educationshould be to prepare nurses with skills to enablethem to solve complex problems and demonstratemetacognitive abilities, such as the ability to learnhow to learn, as well as possess professional skillsto control and positively change their workenvironment.This study provides knowledge about the complexity ofvariables and the relationships between variables(known and latent) that may influence professionalnursing practice behaviors among student nurses.Findings from this study may assist nurse educatorsby contributing knowledge relevant for planning andevaluating effective clinical practice learningexperiences for student nurses and tosupport/facilitate the transition of individuals fromstudent nurses to professional registered nurses and,thus enhance the impact of professional nursescontributions in healthcare delivery.