Measuring Confidence in Nursing Graduates Within the Framework of the AACN Essentials

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials of Baccalaureate Education provide a framework for assessment of nursing programs. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if there was a difference in self-perceived confidence in meeting the AACN essentials between senior students who completed a traditional clinical course and those in a preceptorship course. A descriptive, comparative design was used. The results indicate that students who completed both course models had similarly high levels of perceived confidence in meeting the majority of the AACN essentials.