As vital as ensuring that nurses are equipped with the clinical skills to care for patients and integrate as part of the health care team, nurse educators are also tasked with ensuring that novice nurses feel mentally and emotionally supported during their transition from student to independent practitioner. Nurse educators can utilize the following strategies to facilitate the transition of new graduate nurses.
Being present on the unit during the first couple of weeks while the new nurse completes their buddy shifts; introducing them in-person to the staff as a new grad or new nurse, and being available to support practice and or hesitancy with skills.
Provide an outlet for feelings of frustration that may be present during the transition (Hampton et al., 2021).
Novice nurses need to understand the importance of advocating for their own learning, which can be supported by the availability of the nurse educator (Schipper, 2011).
Transition to practice programs can help close the gap using experiential learning opportunities as well as mentorship (Speight et al., 2019).
The transition to practice program should address clinical progression, acknowledge strengths and areas that would benefit from improvement, as well as timely feedback (Phillips et al., 2017).
New graduate nurses value having a structured program that includes mentorship, experiential learning, interprofessional training, and professional socialization(Reebals et al., 2021)
Programs may include a variety of methods including preceptorship/mentorship, increased clinical time, face-to-face study days, formal assessments, online courses, self-directed learning, and performance appraisals(Graf et al., 2020).
These programs can help nurses feel increased socialization in their organization and unit, facilitating the transition as novice nurses (Hampton et al., 2021).
Transition to practice programs have been shown to increase confidence, improve retention, develop critical thinking skills, improve socialization and develop problem-solving skills in the new graduate nurse (Schipper, 2011).
The transition period for new graduate nurses often exceeds the formalized preceptorship period.
Through the encouragement and support of formalized mentorship programs, nurse educators can help to facilitate the transition beyond the initial supranumary period and beyond.
Reflection is an important component of the transition of novice nurses (Hampton et al., 2021)
Nurse educators can promote formalized reflection for novice nurses to outline learning goals, enhance clinical experiences and gain a more meaningful orientation (Hampton et al., 2021).
Through reflection, nurse educators can support novice nurses through the identification of learning goals and areas of development which are critical in the transition to an adult learner.
Practical strategies for promoting reflection include written reflection journal entries or debriefing at set intervals of the orientation with novice nurses.
Simulation-based education has been proven to improve communication skills, teamwork, confidence and knowledge acquisition in learners (Martin et al., 2020).
Simulation can assist nurses in transition to practice through increasing confidence, communication skills, reflection on their practice and providing exposure to clinical scenarios that traditional clinical-based learning cannot guarantee (Thomson & Mraz, 2017).
Simulation creates a safe environment that invites learners to experience clinical scenarios while maintaining patient safety (Hanshaw & Dickerson, 2020; Quilici et al., 2015).
Healthcare educators act as facilitators to help guide and ensure that the simulation meets learning objectives. Health care educators have an essential role in facilitating debriefing to promote reflection of simulation-based learning (Aebersold, 2018).
Debriefing helps to align the learning activity and learning objectives as well as help to highlight behaviours that facilitated the scenario and barriers that challenged the success of the simulation (Martin et al., 2020). Debriefing allows reflection and professional growth in learners.
Simulation can be supported in all environments, not just those with access to simulation labs. Activities as simple as practicing medication administration or demonstrating hard skills can be performed as simulation.
It is important to understand that all levels of fidelity (the ability of a scenario to represent real- life conditions) are beneficial when utilized correctly and healthcare educators can utilize simulation-based learning regardless of the resources available (Carey & Rossler, 2021).