Registered Nurse Transition

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Transitioning from a student to a practicing nurse is a confusing stressful experience. This transition from a student nurse to registered nurse is an essential goal; it involves a journey of discovery while preparing and adjusting for first year practice. However, there is a great proportion of new graduate nurses who change or leave their working positions a few months after being employed due to the challenges faced during the transition year. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to showcase ways of managing challenges met when applying for a registered nurse job such as the inability to find a job, lack of confidence during the interview process and poorly presented cover letters/resumes. The paper will also look at managing challenges faced …show more content…
They determine whether new nurses are committed nurses, well acquitted with skills to managing patients and have the ability to exercise the skills learned from school (Parker, Giles, Lantry & McMillan, 2014). As a graduate nurse, it is common to have expectations and to feel confident in becoming a practicing nurse. However, when one is in the practice, the excitement turns into a fear thus loss of confidence (Danbjørg & Birkelund, 2011). One not only fears to properly put together the knowledge acquired in school to every situation of their practice but also, fear of the unknown in the patient care situations thus resulting into quitting before the six months are over (Dyess & Sherman, 2009). Therefore, it is of great importance to seek support from the supervisors and peers to ensure skill development, to have a sense of belonging and to feel part of a team thus boosting their confidence and competency (Sherman & Dyess, 2010).The transition theory also suggests that a new graduate nurse should move through three stages in order to provide safe and quality care. These include doing, knowing, and being (Clair, 2013; Danbjørg & Birkelund, 2011; Dyess & Sherman, 2009; Wolff, Pesut & Regan, 2010). In that case, Higgins, Spencer and Kane (2010) add that after graduate nurses go through these stages and gain experience during practice, they become more …show more content…
As a student, it is common to have excitement, and then later realising that one is not ready for the responsibility and heavy workloads of a registered nurse (Parker et al., 2014; Wolff et al., 2010). It is also essential to either attend a meeting, training, or workshops offered during the transition practice to increase knowledge and understanding of the role of a registered nurse (Burton & Ormrod, 2011; Chang & Daly, 2015). The new graduate nurses also need an initiative and support not only from having an orientation package that usually focuses on patient and drug protocols, hospital and ward structure but also having mentors and a conducive working environment for better practice (Bjerknes & Bjork, 2012; Cherry & Jacob, 2013). All these play a part in preparing graduate nurses to effectively practice after qualifying as registered nurses and relate what they learned in school to the nursing reality, thus preventing them from the reality shock when it comes to balancing their personal and professional lifestyles (Chang & Daly, 2015; Higgins et al., 2010; Spector et al.

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