Transition of Nurses: Challenges and Importance of Increased Understanding

Running head: TRANSITION OF NURSES
401021 Being a Professional Nurse or Midwife
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1TRANSITION OF NURSES
Introduction- The transition period of a graduate nursing student to a registered nurse
is often fraught with several emotions such as, happiness, anxiety, excitement, uncertainty,
and fear. It encompasses a situation where the new graduates question everything from their
skill, to whether they have made an appropriate career choice, or if they will be able to adorn
the role of a registered nurse successfully. In an ever altering health related environment, one
feature that remains unaffected is the request for nursing professionals, and the necessity is
graver now, than ever before (Thrysoe et al., 2011). Some of the common issues that are
faced by the nurses during their transition encompass gaps in theory to practice, time
management. Documentation skills, accountability, limited proficiency in execution and
management of technical skills, decision making, and medicine administration. The essay
will elaborate on the importance of an increased understanding in new graduate practice for
a smooth transition to the role of a professional nurse.
Critical analysis- There is mounting evidence for the fact that clinical practices have
been found to be under huge pressure to function in an efficient and lean manner, owing to
the upsurge in regulatory oversight, shrinkage of reimbursements, and augmented
consumerism (Ortiz, 2016). This pressure stresses that education programs should be able to
produce nurses who demonstrate a readiness for their work, from the very moment they enter
their practice domains. Hospitals usually find more number of patients suffering from
multifaceted chronic conditions. Global statistics have demonstrated a disproportionately
increased rates of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, end-stage renal disease,
and mental illnesses (Mills et al., 2016). Most of these conditions can be accredited to the
absence of adequate access to primary care services, restricted access to preventive services,
boundaries in subsidy for care, and deep-seated social and cultural issues. Some of the
clinical skills that a nurse must possess include acute care, treatment planning, life
support, telemetry, case management, advanced cardiac life support, and patient or

2TRANSITION OF NURSES
family education. The skill of treatment planning acts in the form of a blueprint and guides
the care services that the nurses deliver to their clients (Ackley et al., 2016). Hence, the new
graduate nurses are subjected to circumstances where they have to collaborate with other
professionals, for the best interest of their patients. Similarly, the skill of acute care makes the
nurses provide care to patients for a short period of time, following an illness or injury
episode (Kramer, Brewer & Maguire, 2013). The nurses are also subjected to conditions
where they have to focus on automated communication process for collecting measurement
of patients at inaccessible or remote locations. Therefore, these situations make the nurses
feel stressed and fatigued during their transition to practice (Leong & Crossman, 2015).
Nurses are entitled with the competence of handling patients, relations with the providers and
families, and leading the interprofessional team. Caka, Van Rooyen and Jordan (2015) stated
that under circumstances that do not provide nurses with supportive relationships, new
registered nurses who have the responsibility of caring for complex patients often feel
overawed and fatigued, and they might suffer from momentous anxiety, all of which can
result in attrition.
Clinical currency comprises of a range of domains, beginning from simple
provisions of providing direct care to the patients, till the expert knowledge on the particular
area of nursing practice (Candela, Gutierrez & Keating, 2015). There is mounting evidence
for the great benefits that are associated with provisions of direct care for patients, along with
the up keeping of clinical ability, in clinical environment (Rush et al., 2013). Adorning the
skills of clinical currency assists the nursing professionals to become credible. Furthermore,
the fact that new nurses are also expected to display a commitment to lifelong learning urges
them to demonstrate skills for enhancing their competence, relevant to nursing practice
(Phillips et al., 2014). Hence, clinical currency and continuing formal education is imperative
for nurses for maintaining clinical competency.