New graduate nurses' experiences in their first year of practice

Abstract

Aims: This study aimed to explore new graduates' experiences of entering the nursing workforce in NSW, Australia, and to identify factors that impact on their transition to the workforce, satisfaction and likelihood of retention. Background: The nature of new graduates' experiences in their first year of employment has been shown to have a significant impact on their future career directions. It is well reported that often these experiences are stressful and unsatisfying. Methods: A mixed method cross sectional design was used combining quantitative and qualitative approaches. Data was gathered by online survey and focus groups. Results: A total of 282 new graduates, aged 21 to 54, responded to the online survey (response rate 24%). Overall, respondents were satisfied with their recruitment process (mean 3.54) and support for professional development (mean 3.37) but job satisfaction was rated lower (mean 2.91). Qualitative findings from focus groups and survey comments revealed a number of key factors impacting on the experience of transition for new graduates. These are; the nature of the workplace environment, the level and nature of support available to new graduates, together with their propensity to learn and adapt to workplace cultures and to accommodate their own expectations and the expectations of others, and to a lesser degree, the amount of prior experience. Conclusion: There is an urgent need to develop and test a range of evidence based approaches that will both empower nurses and embed systematic approaches that enable equitable and contextually relevant stewardship of new graduate nurses into the future.