Abstract
<p>Annually, large numbers of new nurses are entering the professional practice environment. To function effectively in practice, nurses must reflect on identifying how they learn, be skillful thinkers, and know when to retrieve and apply previously learned information or skills to clinical situations for effective decision-making. There is a lack of nursing literature measuring transfer of knowledge during the nursing student experience and upon attaining nursing licensure, from academia into clinical practice. As minimal nursing research has examined metacognition and metacognitive abilities, it was important to conduct this study to establish a foundation. The intent of this quantitative descriptive study, guided by the 3P Model of Teaching and Learning (Biggs, 2003), was to explore the variables and factors influencing metacognition and what facilitates the transfer of academic knowledge and skills of the newly licensed nurse into professional clinical practice. Using the 52-item Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) developed by Schraw and Dennison, 1994, and researcher developed demographic instrument, the study’s results suggests that newly licensed nurses have metacognitive abilities as measured by the MAI. Metacognition should be assessed and fostered throughout the continuum from academia to professional nursing practice, nurturing reflection on one’s own learning, and making adjustments according to a given topic or clinical situation. Although there were limitations to the present study, based on the correlational findings of this study that show that application of knowledge or skills and experiential learning, particularly in simulation, significantly influence metacognitive abilities, further research is warranted and should be considered by nurse educators.</p>
