practice

Practice preparedness of 21st century newly qualified nurses is an ongoing debate. A driver for this debate is recognition about the transition from student nurse to registered nurse being a challenging, complex, and multifaceted phenomenon in the UK and internationally.
Little is known about the lived experiences of newly qualified nurses’ preparedness for professional practice locally, on a small island located within the English Channel. This study attended to this research gap by examining preparedness for professional practice from the viewpoint of newly qualified nurses on the island. A descriptive phenomenological methodology was utilised to describe the essence of lived experiences and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Three core themes – preparedness for professional practice, impact of support, and developing professionalism emerged as the main findings of the study. The newly qualified nurses who participated in this study reported feelings of self-doubt at the beginning of their transition experience, imposter thoughts, and transition shock that is widely recognised in research. They also expressed feeling there were limitations in how prepared they could be for professional practice as a new registrant. A supportive workplace culture and self-care were also reported as resilience factors. These factors could be explored further in future research about newly qualified nurses’ experiences of the preceptorship programme on island. Findings could reveal the components of a supportive workplace culture that promote positive experiences in the first three months of a role as a newly qualified nurse.