In rural healthcare, to adequately staff intensive care units (ICU) often new graduate nurses are hired directly into the ICU setting. Factors contributing to this hiring practice include the retirement of experienced nurses, and movement of potential staff to larger cities, both of which result in a limited number of experienced ICU nurses in the geographical area. This employment process places new graduate nurses into positions that require mature critical thinking skills. Typically new graduates have fundamental skills due to limited exposure to advanced protocols. This project has become the prototype for further curricula changes to incorporate additional evidence-based protocols that promote critical thinking techniques for students in clinical training.
