Jessica Lawton, School of Nursing, CoHM
Kate Brinsmead, Curriculum and Academic Quality (CoHM), Academic Division
The transition from nursing student to new graduate nurse can bring a twofold of turbulence: excitement about course completion and work commencement coupled with trepidation over readiness, lack of experience, and anxiety about how they will perform in their new role as graduate nurse.
The Bachelor of Nursing’s final-year unit, Concepts of Nursing 3: Transition to Practice, co-developed and taught by Jessica Lawton, provides students with a theoretical foundation for managing the change to graduate nurse role. However, a student’s employability is in constant flux throughout the course: as they grapple with dynamic individual and contextual factors. Particularly, the student’s career identity changes as they interact and collaborate with their educators, peers, colleagues and placement employers (Healy, 2023).
An opportunity emerged to collaborate with industry and University of Tasmania (UTAS) teams to build a formal course-wide process/program to guide practical career and employability learning and Jess was appointed as Transition to Practice Lead. In collaboration with Kate Brinsmead, Career Development Curriculum Advisor for the College of Health and Medicine, Jess proposes a scaffolded program that enables all students, regardless of background, to access information, reflect on experiences and build capabilities. Combining evidence-based learning-oriented theories of career development and pedagogic principles can expand the course focus beyond gaining graduate employment to equitably building lifelong career navigation skills: leading to enhanced career decision-making, self-efficacy, and adaptability. In this Lightning presentation we will outline our plan to deliver an embedded career development program that might inspire you to empower your students to find their place in the world of work.
Healy, M. (2023). Careers and employability learning: Pedagogical principles for higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 48(8), 1303-1314.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2196997