Introduction
The coping mechanisms of stressful working conditions by nurses has been, and is a matter of great public scrutiny and research hitherto. Nursing stresses mainly emanate from professional and organizational sources. Despite this observation, there remains a paucity of information with regard to professional and organizational socialization of New Graduates into Professional Practice. Feng and Tsai’s article thus serves to offer insights into this area of the nursing profession.
Background
Socialization of new graduate nurses to practicing nurses is a qualitative descriptive study by Feng and Tsai, (2012) that sought to establish the socialization involvements of fresh graduate baccalaureate nurses to working nurses. These socialization involvements include entering a workforce, factors that affect their transitioning, satisfaction and retention chances in their nursing practice. The proficiencies of new nurses throughout their first year of employment often impacts the direction their career will take significantly (Feng and Tsai, 2012). Unfortunately, the first year experience is often unsatisfying and stressful (pp. 150-156).
The article documents data collected from research participants who were alumnae of a baccalaureate nursing program and were working on full time basis across four medical centers in Taiwan as their first full time jobs. Collection of data was through the use of in depth, semi structured and open ended interviews. Verbatim transcription was then carried out on the interviews and content breakdown used to investigate the data thematically. From the analyzed data, three themes emerged which offers insights into the socialization of New Graduates into Professional Practice. The three themes were, being an insider, overwhelming chaos and learning by doing.
Succinct Summation
According to Feng and Tsai, (2012), new graduate nurses often face both multifarious and stressful transitions into their nursing practice. Consequentially, these nurses need to be not only socialized in their various areas of practice, but must also be acquainted with the existing rules in the hospitals, which influence their behavior. According to article, the feeling of unpreparedness for the new nurses is acceptable despite the fact the nurses are usually competent for practicing in their different roles. With regard to socialization however, there exists disconnect between the idealistic values that are championed in the nursing schools compared to the reality present in the areas of practice as Kelly and Tazbir, (2014) also documents. Often times, these nurses opt flight rather than to fight to adapt to their work environments as Feng and Tsai, (2012) documents.
Statistical inferences from this observation are seen from the nursing situations in both the U.S and in Canada. In the U.S., new nurse’s registered a turnover rate of 30% during their first year of employment and a 57% turnover rate in the second year. This rate is compared to Canada’s 61.5% rate, which represented the intent to leave employment during the first year. According to Feng and Tsai, (2012) therefore, the coping mechanisms of work place stresses for nurses during their first year in practice is a great determinant of their retention, satisfaction and progression in their nursing practice. This is because the first stop is often the first socialization stop for most nurses new in practice.
Methodology and analysis
In order to offer insights into the socialization of New Graduates into Professional Practice, the researcher employed the use of a qualitative research design since it allows the documentation of the nurse’s experiences during their first year of practice. This study design is beneficial in documenting these experiences precisely even though it has the limitation of offering a low interpretation of data which is possible for quantitative studies.
However, the study design is consistent with other grounded theoretical studies which seek to establish causative relations (Parker, et al., 2014). Based on the study’s inclusion criteria and in line with the ethical considerations of informed consent, seven nurses took part in the study. The seven participating nurses where pooled from an initial 36 nurses who were considered to participate in the study. Sampling of the nurses was purposive and only nurses who met the inclusion standards were consider for the study. The nurses ought to have graduated from a baccalaureate program and are employed full time for the first time in a clinical setup.
Various questions were asked in the conducted interview which were essential in establishing the socialization of the new nurses in their new work setups. These questions included their perception of their readiness as registered nurses, their most profound work experiences, their greatest work setbacks and their coping mechanisms. The answers to this interviews was transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis used to analyze its contents
Appraisal
The study’s sample size in Feng and Tsai, (2012) research may however be considered small and thus opens room for plausible bias in the results. A higher sample size would offer more credibility to the research findings. Data collection was done by the help of open ended, in depth and audio taped interviews. The use of these research tools is commendable for a qualitative study. However, the length of the conducted interviews (2-4 hours) is relatively long, a fact that is likely to affect any study.
Research findings
The thematic analysis of the nurse’s responses to the questions yielded three themes concerning their socialization. These where overwhelming chaos, being an insider and learning by doing.
In ‘learning by doing’, the seven nurses recorded different experiences in their first year experience of practice. A cross cutting factor however, was that the nursing practice was different from the learning experience in the classrooms. According to Feng and Tsai, (2012), the nurses observed that they felt that all the information in their learning was not available to them. Additionally, they felt the need to know and remember everything they had learned and hence they were stressed in their workplace. A noteworthy finding by Feng and Tsai, (2012) is that the nurses felt a sense of fear of being perceived as incompetent. Additionally, the stimuli overload on the nurses when they entered their workplaces according to Feng and Tsai, (2012), caused a sensory overload for most of them. These stimuli were both environmental and work oriented. Consequentially, the socialization process by the nurses was slow with most of them (6) contemplating quitting.
Personal application
As a new RN, similar difficulties likened to from Feng and Tsai, (2012) study can apply in my socialization. The lack of knowledge in a new clinical setting, lack of skills and experience may mostly lead to not only frustration but also despair and a low self-esteem. However, from various studies such as Parker et al., (2014), these discomforts are normal for numerous first time RN practitioners. However, gaining more knowledge in the work setup concerning unclear guidelines will be essential in mitigating against these challenges. This will involve asking questions from experienced nurses, reading and researching more and taking notes where necessary. With such measures, socialization may be easier and integration and retention is likely to be equally higher. Furthermore, taking part in orientation programs will prove invaluable in the socialization process.
Conclusion
References
Feng, R. F., & Tsai, Y. F. (2012). Socialisation of new graduate nurses to practising nurses. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21(13‐14), 2064-2071.
Kelly, P. & Tazbir, J. (2014). Essentials of nursing leadership & management (3rd ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar
Parker, V., Giles, M., Lantry, G., & McMillan, M. (2014). New graduate nurses' experiences in their first year of practice. Nurse education today, 34(1), 150-156.
