The present study reports preliminary findings regarding new graduate nurses participating in a year-long local residency programme at two hospitals in Las Vegas, NV. Nurse resident programmes are purported to increase the level of clinical competency and professional transition in new graduate registered nurses (RNs) and to decrease first-year turnover rates. The effectiveness of this programme was assessed using data of the first two cohorts participating in this new residency programme. Clinical competencies, anxiety, stress, professional transition and retention were measured on 55 nurse residents who have participated in the nurse residency programme. The findings indicate improved clinical competency throughout the programme, a decreased sense of threat, and improved communication and leadership skills. The first-year cohort's employment retention rate was 78%, and the second-year cohort is presently 96%. The results of this study demonstrate the positive impact of a year-round residency programme for new graduate RNs. Implications for nursing management The need for a consistent nurse workforce demands that new graduates be transitioned into competent practitioners as soon as possible. Nurse residency programmes can provide this support and decrease replacement costs involved in high turnover.

In the National Basketball Association (NBA), there are high expectations for the post-season among the teams having the league's best regular season records. However, not every team who plays great basketball in the regular season will succeed in the playoffs. The Phoenix Suns, for example, had the third best regular season record from the 2004–05 through 2006–07 seasons; however, not once did they reach the NBA Finals during those years. We hypothesized that how teams win games in the NBA differs between the regular season and the playoffs. This paper discusses the relative importance of performance factors in winning basketball games in the past 10 years of the NBA (between the 1999–2000 and 2008–2009 seasons). Specifically, we examined the contributions of overall efficiency (offensive and defensive ratings), along with the Four Factors (effective field goal percentage, turnover percentage, rebound percentage, and free throw rate) to winning games in the regular season and the playoffs, using a multiple linear regression and a logistic regression analysis. The results of these analyses indicate that efficient offense and defense are both essential to be successful in the regular season and the playoffs, but the importance of defense in winning games may be greater in the playoffs than in the regular season. Shooting efficiency on both ends of the floor (offensive and defensive effective field goal percentages) seems to be the most critical aspect of the game in the regular season as well as the playoffs. In addition, committing fewer turnovers could be another key to winning games, especially in the regular season. It appears that defense becomes more important for winning playoff series as a team advances further in the post-season. Lastly, rebounding may play a significant role in deciding the outcome of the Conference Finals where two teams most likely have similar shooting efficiency and turnover rates.