Good Work in Nursing: A Qualitative Study of Perceptions Using Focus Groups of Norwegian BSN Graduates upon Entry into Practice

Nursing students must recognize how their clinical skills, attitudes and knowledge accomplish aims, values and responsibilities in nursing. Although efforts by the individual student are imperative to the performance of good work, success in their endeavour also rests on educational input and factors in clinical practice. In Phase I of a longitudinal qualitative study involving students in the United States and Norway, this presentation will shed light on the following research questions: 1) What characterizes nursing students views of good work in nursing? and 2) What motivational, supportive or hindering factors impact on their performance of good work? Twenty-five nursing students in their final month of undergraduate education participated in four focus group interviews lasting between 60-75 minutes. The Privacy Ombudsman for Research has been consulted, and informed consent obtained from the participants. Both authors participated in the interviews as moderator or observer. An interview guide was developed based on common themes agreed upon in the international research group. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The following findings will be discussed in detail at the conference. Making a difference was repeatedly offered as an understanding of good work. This work involved taking time or initiative, being responsible or seriously engaged where others did not even think about doing anything about challenges in the care of patients or next of kin. Motivational forces were seeing the patients’ contentedness, being thanked, experiencing good feelings after performing nursing activities, making decisions and seeing the whole picture and the connections between aspects. Major supportive factors were having good supervisors and the possibilities to discuss nursing with fellow students. Factors that hindered good work was conflicting advice and attitudes about good nursing from their teachers, lacking advancement in responsibility in practice and too little practice in the skills laboratory.