Phenomenological Study on Professional Role Transition of New Graduate Nurses

Abstract

Background Transition from a newly graduated nurse to an expert nurse may involve personal professional intellectual and emotional changes along with skill and role changes. As the global shortage of nurses remains an important issue to be solved it is important to ensure that novice nurses have a safe and smooth professional role transition.Aim The study aimed to address the professional role transition of new graduate nurses during their initial years of practice.Methods A phenomenological research approach was used among the ten nurses who were working as staff nurses at a tertiary care hospital in Bangalore. An interview technique was used to collect the data in two phases Focused group interview and Individual interview.Results The collected data was categorized into three stages based on Judy Boychuk Duchscherrsquos transition theory. During the initial 3-4 months Doing stage the nurses were excited but soon realized that they were not prepared enough to manage the workload and responsibility of their role as staff nurses. The themes that emerged were ldquoBeing scared and stressedrdquo ldquoReality is differentrdquo and ldquoNeed to learnrdquo. Subjects felt scared and stressed and realized that the reality is different and understood the need to learn. During the next 9-12 months Being Stage their competency skill and confidence levels improved. ldquoGaining confidence and Trustworthinessrdquo were the themes that emerged during this phase. From 12 months and above Knowing phase the subjects experienced less stress gained confidence and improved their individual capacity to cope and the themes unfolded were ldquoYes I know and to be empoweredrdquo.Conclusion The study revealed the complexity in the transition from student to registered nurse. In the current scenario with an acute shortage of staff nurses it is vital to address this issue and to plan necessary reforms for strengthening the profession.