RN Refresher Clinical Component

The RN Refresher program is designed to update and enhance inactive registered nurses' nursing knowledge and clinical skills preparing for reentry into active practice, addressing foundational competencies for medical-surgical nursing in today’s increasingly complex practice settings. The RN Refresher Clinical component allows the participant to apply the latest updates in evidence-based nursing practice and patient care management knowledge learned in the RN Refresher Didactic Course component to the acute care setting. Participants apply the following key competencies during this program: • Integrate knowledge, skills and professional attitudes using clinical evidence and reasoning. • Assess comprehensive knowledge to secure quality, safety and equality in healthcare systems. • Evaluate issues that may influence professional behaviors in the practice of nursing. • Demonstrate team-building and collaboration strategies in health systems, guided by nursing values and standards. • Develop critical thinking skills to determine the effectiveness of medication administration on client care outcomes. • Use critical thinking skills to appraise data provided by technology to develop optimum patient outcomes. • Propose population focused care, incorporating concepts of health promotion, disease and injury prevention. • Collaborate effectively within nursing and inter-professional teams to foster open communication, collaboration, mutual respect, and shared decision-making. • Demonstrate patient-centered care, which represents patients’ preferences, values and needs within the context of their families, communities and the healthcare delivery system. • Demonstrate the relevance of cultural diversity in healthcare. To earn the RN Refresher Clinical Certificate of Completion, each participant must: • Successfully complete the Didactic component of the UD RN Refresher program • Complete a minimum of 80 hours of direct patient care in an acute care hospital setting • Demonstrate proficiency in the following as defined by the University of Delaware's RN Refresher program and evaluated by an assigned BSN/MSN-prepared RN clinical preceptor: Nursing Process, Professional Communication, Nursing Assessment, Documentation, Critical Thinking, Medication Administration, Clinical Skills.