Transition from Graduate Nurse to Professional Nurse

Running head: TRANSITION FROM GRADUATE NURSE TO PROFESSIONAL NURSE
TRANSITION FROM GRADUATE NURSE TO PROFESSIONAL NURSE
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1TRANSITION TO GRADUATE NURSE AND BEING A PROFESSIONAL NURSE
Introduction
The phase of transition from a student nurse to a registered nurse is a new experience for
the nursing students; hence a multitude of issues may occur during this period (Kensington et al.,
2016). Hence, it is important for a student nurse to remain aware of this crucial phase and
understand their professional role to improve their professional values. According to Hayes
(2018), it is important to build in-depth understanding regarding essential clinical and non-
clinical skills to facilitate the transition to a professional nurse. For example, a student nurse
needs to focus on the process of analyzing vital signs as a clinical skill to identify the impairment
in vital signs (McCutcheon et al., 2015). On the other hand, the non-clinical skill such as
communication is another important skill that a student needs to focus in order to become a
successful registered nurse in future (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou, 2014). The purpose of this
essay is to explore the different factors that need to be considered while preparing for transition
to professional practice. This paper will critically analyze various nursing skills, nursing theories
and reflect on own preparedness for becoming a graduate nurse. This essay aims to prove the
thesis that it is important to have in depth understanding regarding various clinical issues and
nursing skills for new graduate nurse to access adequate support for the transition to professional
nurse.
Critical Analysis
As mentioned earlier the phase of transition to new graduate registered nurse is a new
experience for the nursing students and they may face various difficulties in order to settle in the
new clinical settings. This is mainly due to the new clinical environment which is completely
different from their academic environment (Kensington et al., 2016). The common problems that
a student nurse faces during this periods include the theory to practice gap, time management,

2TRANSITION TO GRADUATE NURSE AND BEING A PROFESSIONAL NURSE
communication issue, accountability, decision making and collaborating with the wider medical
team (Duane & Satre, 2014). According to Kensington et al., (2016) due to the surrounding of
experienced nurses the new graduate nurse sometimes experiences the supernumerary situation,
hence, feels unprepared, inexperienced and incapable in their professional field. As opined by
Hayes, (2018), beside such issues there are certain benefits of this transition phase that lead to
the development of nursing skills, for example, the opportunity to interact with patients and
improve communication skill, improve accountability for their own practice and learning various
psychosocial assessments. Walton et al., (2018) have argued that the critical phase of transition
helps the new graduate nurse to become more confident due to their experience in clinical
practice and it helps them to develop their various nursing skills that are required to provide
quality service and achieve positive outcomes.
In order to cope up with the issues faced by the new graduate nurse during their transition
to professional nurse it is important to have in-depth knowledge regarding the various clinical
and non-clinical skills which could help them to establish themselves in the new clinical
environment (Hutchinson et al., 2016). As per Duane & Satre, (2014) the basic knowledge about
clinical skills such as assessment of vital signs, administering IV injections and others. The
adequate academic knowledge regarding such clinical skills would help the new graduate nurse
to understand the application of academic knowledge in the practical field to provide quality
service and avoid malpractice. In spite of such clinical or technical skills the nurse should
contain essential non-clinical skills such as effective communication. It would help them to
interact with patients to understand their concern and communicate with peers to avail adequate
collaboration (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou, 2014). McCutcheon et al., (2015) have
recommended that the skill of decision making and critical thinking is also important which