Effect of "RECAST-H" (REverse CAses STudies Based on Heutagogy Approach) on Professional Readiness

Background: Newly graduated nurses may experience various difficulties during the first 12 months of their professional careers. Many interventions are implemented after recruitment to help newly graduated nurses overcome these challenges and ease their transition. Orientation training, internships, and nurse guidance or mentoring programs are among these interventions. Despite these interventions, new graduates continue to face various difficulties. Moreover, managers and experienced nurses often consider them inadequate. This situation raises questions about the readiness of new graduates for the profession. Therefore, equipping students with certain competencies during nursing education will help them cope more effectively with the disadvantages that may arise during the transition to professional practice. The current literature emphasizes that soft skills are more important than technical knowledge and abilities. Soft skills such as flexibility, self-awareness, problem-solving, interpersonal communication, cooperation, and coping with changing conditions and difficulties contribute to professional readiness and support positive coping with workplace challenges.

Objective: To examine the effect of reverse case studies based on the heutagogy approach on the level of readiness for the profession among final-year nursing students.

Method: The study design is a prospective, pre-test, post-test, parallel-group, single-masked, explanatory randomized controlled trial. The study will take place at the Hacettepe University Faculty of Nursing in Ankara. All final-year students enrolled at Hacettepe University School of Nursing during the 2025-2026 academic year will constitute the study population. The total sample size was determined to be 84, accounting for losses. Participants will be randomly assigned to either an intervention group that receives the educational program or to a waiting-list control group. The study will include a five-session reverse case study intervention based on a heutagogy approach. The primary outcomes are professional readiness, career adaptability, and professional socialization, and the secondary outcome is psychological capital. Data will be collected at the beginning of the study and again after the intervention has been completed. In addition, participants' feedback regarding the educational program will be collected using an evaluation form. The results of this study aim to enhance nursing education by offering an innovative and effective strategy to facilitate the transition of nursing students into their professional roles.

Inclusion criteria

• Being a final-year nursing student
• Enrolled in "Education in Nursing" course
• Willing to participate in the study

Exclusion criteria

• Graduated from vocational high school specializing in health services
• Working full-time in any institution providing health services