Abstract
The current research conducted a longitudinal study of new graduate nurses at 3 times-prior to their employment as nurses and 3 months and 1 year afterward. This study yielded 3 findings. 1) The mental health of new graduate nurses significantly worsens 3 months after employment as a nurse and mental health 1 year after employment as a nurse was significantly worse than that before employment. 2) A sense of coherence (SOC) is the ability to cope with stressors, and the 3 components of SOC decreased significantly in the year after employment as a nurse. 3) The mental health of new graduate nurses was significantly affected by a low SOC and by previous diminishing of SOC. Findings suggested the importance of support to sustain and improve the mental health of new graduate nurses and the importance of approaches in the workplace to encourage the development of SOC.
Highlights
According to estimates from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare [1], Japan is faced with a shortage of nurses, and this problem is only expected to grow in the near future
The current research conducted a longitudinal study of new graduate nurses at 3 times-prior to their employment as nurses and 3 months and 1 year afterward
Findings suggested the importance of support to sustain and improve the mental health of new graduate nurses and the importance of approaches in the workplace to encourage the development of Sense of Coherence (SOC)
Summary
According to estimates from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare [1], Japan is faced with a shortage of nurses, and this problem is only expected to grow in the near future. New graduate nurses are a valuable human resource to compensate for the lack of nurses in clinical settings. The mental health of new graduate nurses in Japan is said to worsen around June, i.e. 3 months after employment as a nurse [2,3,4]. Previous studies cited as evidence in Japan merely studied the worsening of new graduate nurses’ mental health after their employment as nurses, so whether mental health had worsened upon employ mentor was poor to begin with was unclear. The mental health after employment as a nurse must be compared to its baseline level before employment as a nurse in order to obtain adequate evidence of the dynamic phenomenon of “worsening” of new graduate nurses’ mental health
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