Good Work in Nursing: A Qualitative Study of Perceptions Using Interviews of United States BSN Graduates upon Entry into Practice

Powerful market forces have been competing with the values and ideologies of the nursing profession.  Efforts to reduce the nursing shortage through identification of issues that affect retention and avoid “burn-out” of nurses are in order.  The purpose of Phase I of this qualitative longitudinal study was to understand the perceptions of new BSN graduates about what constitutes good work in nursing as they enter their first professional positions. A purposive sample of 12 graduates met criteria as having fewer than three months of experience in the work environment and a recommendation from a faculty member regarding the graduate’s conscious enactment of excellence in practice while a student. Each participant was interviewed for approximately one-hour using a semi-structured interview protocol adapted from the GoodWork Project©. The hallmarks of Good Work are work that is engaging, excellent, and ethical (Gardner, 2008). Perceptions were obtained in the areas of initial attraction to nursing, beliefs and values, goals and responsibilities, opportunities and supports, obstacles and pressures, conditions of the domain or field, and preparing the next generation. For example, what personal beliefs or core values will guide your work as a new graduate? Is there an overarching goal that gives meaning to what you hope will be your work as a professional nurse? Can you give examples of the way your vision of what it means to be a professional nurse is supported? Findings and conclusions in each area will be presented. Understanding factors which play a role in promoting good work in nursing, work that is deemed to be of high quality and socially responsible, may influence curricular and institutional change during turbulent times in the profession.

 Gardner, H. (2008). Five minds for the future. Harvard Business Press: Boston. MA.