| Learning Objective #1: Identify the stressors facing new baccalaureate-prepared nurses at the 3- and 6-month periods in the first professional nursing position following graduation | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Identify the 'survival skills' new baccalaureate-prepared nurses possess as they mature in their first professional nursing positions following graduation |
The objective of our research program is to investigate the preparation and transition of baccalaureate prepared nurses into the role of staff nurse in an acute care setting. This paper will report the major thematic findings, and significance for nurse educators, of intensive open-ended interviews conducted with 12 new nurses at the 3 and 6-month points in their first professional nursing position.The majority of nurse participants worked in urban tertiary care institutions serving both adults and children but findings were not different for nurses working in small rural institutions. All participants had graduated from universities in Atlantic Canada. Most, but not all, of our participants reported feeling overwhelmed at the same time as they recognized this feeling state was a phase in their transition to competent practitioner. As one participant expressed it, "I'm not ready but I know I'm not incompetent". All participants could identify in detail the strategies they used to move forward in the development of expertise: intensive questioning, careful observation of more experienced staff, actively seeking learning opportunities both formal and informal, heightened attention to and review of a full range of documentary material, both personal (textbooks and class notes) and organizational (policy and procedure manuals, etc.). At six months, the participants described themselves as "more nurse than student" as they became less consumed with the basic organizational and clinical skills associated with caregiving. At the same time, their accounts of their experiences became less personalized as they learned to focus on the needs of patients and families in their care and to redefine their relationship with their nurse colleagues. The first six months in the professional career of a new baccalaureate prepared nurse is stressful. Educators need to make explicit for graduating students the 'survival skills' they possess as they make the transition to competent practitioner.
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