Exploring Newly Qualified Nurses' Perception of Preparedness for Clinical Practice: A Descriptive Qualitative Study

TL;DR

This study explores how well-prepared new nurses feel for clinical work and identifies factors that may hinder their readiness.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the contextual challenges affecting newly qualified nurses' preparedness for clinical practice.

Findings

Newly qualified nurses felt generally prepared for clinical roles despite facing contextual challenges.

Challenges included insufficient knowledge, limited clinical exposure, and a theory-practice gap.

Findings suggest the need for improved clinical supervision and mentorship in nursing education.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the perceived preparedness of newly qualified nurses for clinical practice, with a focus on those factors that contribute to any lack of preparedness. Being prepared for practice is essential for achieving professional goals and reducing unwanted patient and organisational outcomes. The preparedness of newly qualified nurses to practice independently is a topic of debate; however, the factors that cause a lack of preparedness have not been explored thoroughly.

This exploratory study utilised a descriptive and contextual design and thematic analysis.

The researcher utilised a qualitative methodology for their research. The population of the study was 16 newly qualified nurses, who were chosen through convenience sampling. This study was conducted from August to October 2020 at four campuses that offered a 4‐year Bachelor of Nursing Science (Clinical) (BNSc) Honours Degree. Data were gathered via semi‐structured interviews until the point at which data saturation was reached. Following this, thematic analysis was undertaken.

The analysis of the data led to the development of four themes, that is, student confidence and competence; lack of confidence and competence; resource‐related challenges and suggested changes to improve perceived challenges.

This study's findings have showed that newly qualified nurses experienced some contextual challenges during their four‐year training in fulfilment of their professional roles; they appeared well‐prepared for their clinical roles. Their contextual challenges were as a result of insufficient knowledge, a lack of clinical exposure to some departments, a theory‐practice gap, and insufficient placement time for clinical practice.

The findings of this study can be used to develop targeted interventions and ongoing strategies that would inform clinical practice and future curricula development and facilitate improvement of clinical supervision and mentorship.