Nurse internship pathway to clinical comfort, confidence, and competency.

The purpose of this article is to report the outcomes of a nurse internship program initiated at a U.S. Navy hospital designed to increase new graduate nurses' clinical competence, confidence, and comfort. Using a quasi-experimental design, the experimental group scored significantly higher on organizational core competencies than the control group. These nurses were more comfortable with their leadership and management roles following the intervention. Organizations may wish to consider a nursing internship program as a means of improving the work environment.