Background: The provision of professional training and education for nursing students to transition to registered nurses is never easy. The transition period of a newly graduated nurse is the initial 12 months after graduation and is a crucial period of adjustment and settling in. A greater understanding of the professional training and education of nursing students has received and its influence on their transition experiences is needed.
Aim: To explore the first-year role transition of newly graduated nurses and reflect on the way professional nurse training had been delivered and educational concerns to be addressed.
Method: Convenience sample was used to recruit nine newly graduated nurses to participate in three focus group interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed using thematic content analysis.
Results: Newly graduated nurses were experiencing high stress in (1) Changing identity from student learner to nurse, and (2) Settling into new clinical environments. As part of professional educational development, possessing sound knowledge of some clinical specialties is crucial and should be taught at the school. Issues that could ease the transition and could be emphasized: situation handling and specialty training; learning to maintain a positive mentality and setting self-improvement goals; practising skills to strengthen interpersonal relationships; learning to accept mistakes and integrate knowledge into practice.
Conclusion: Results suggest that clinical simulation training may be an effective learning experience to address the educational concerns of students. Further research is warranted to explore the use of clinical simulation training on final-year students to prepare them for professional careers.

Authors:
Yin Ching Diana Tsang, Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Hong Kong
Lui Shek Eric Chan, Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Hong Kong
Pau Le Lisa Low, Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Hong Kong
Lai Fong Annie Mok, Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Hong Kong
Yat Cheung Maggie Wong, Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Hong Kong

About the Presenter(s)
Ms Yin Ching, Diana TSANG is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at Caritas Institute of Higher Education in Hong Kong

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