Developing Confident, Practice-Ready Nurses: Data-Driven Insights for Academic and Health System Leaders

July 9, 2026 at 12:00 pm CT

Developing Confident, Practice-Ready Nurses: Data-Driven Insights for Academic and Health System Leaders

New graduate nurses are arriving at the bedside ready to practice—but emerging data reveals important opportunities to better support their transition into professional environments. The Nursing Catalyst’s 2025 New Graduate Nurse benchmarking study, which surveyed more than 2,300 new graduate nurses, uncovered a new, consistent pattern: nurses begin their first year with evolving needs in emotional readiness, professional identity formation, and preparation for the technologies reshaping care delivery. The result is a workforce that meets clinical expectations on paper while needing support to build confidence. Oftentimes it’s confidence, not competency, that is a key predictor of nurse retention.

This AACN and AONL joint webinar, in collaboration with The Health Management Academy,  examines findings from the study, which reveals what it takes to develop and sustain confidence across year one. Academic and health system leaders will explore how curriculum, clinical experience, and transition-to-practice design can work together to better support early-career nurses, including how intentional alignment can improve outcomes for both nurses and the systems they serve.

Learning Outcomes:

• Describe the relationship between confidence and intent to stay in new graduates, and explain why confidence—not clinical competency alone—is a leading indicator of early-tenure retention
• Examine the growing gap between health system investment in AI and virtual nursing and new graduate readiness to work in these environments, and how earlier academic exposure can accelerate readiness
• Identify opportunities for academic and health system leaders to strengthen academic-practice alignment around emotional preparation, professional identity, and technology readiness