Elsevier

Collegian

Volume 23, Issue 2, June 2016, Pages 201-208
Collegian

Graduate Nurse Program Coordinators’ perspectives on graduate nurse programs in Victoria, Australia: A descriptive qualitative approach

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2015.03.004Get rights and content

Summary

Aims

The purpose of this study was to describe the formal preparation nursing graduates are given throughout their first year of nursing in terms of educational structure and content of work-based year-long graduate nurse programs, from the perspectives of Graduate Nurse Program Coordinators.

Background

In Australia, graduate nurse programs aim to provide a supportive learning environment, assisting nursing graduates in applying their theory to practice and supporting them in becoming safe, competent and responsible professionals. Internationally, research has demonstrated an increase in the job satisfaction and more importantly retention rates of newly qualified nurses who are supported in their first year of employment in some type of transition program.

Method

Using a descriptive qualitative approach, individual semi-structured interviews were used. These interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed to reveal themes and sub-themes.

Results

The interviews provided an insight into the various aspects of preparation that nursing graduates are given in their first year of practice with the main theme to emerge from analysis, nature of transition programs. The three subthemes associated with nature of transition programs consisted of composition of rotations and study days and supernumerary strategies. Findings indicate variation in pedagogical models underpinning graduate nurse programs across Victoria. Clinical rotations varied between three to twelve months, the number of study days offered were between four and thirteen days and there was variation in supernumerary time and strategies within the programs investigated.

Section snippets

Introduction and background

In Australia, nursing students undertake a three-year full-time tertiary nursing program and register to practise as Registered Nurses (RN) with the national regulatory body on successful completion of this program. Internationally, within the literature new nursing graduates have reported struggling with the transition from academia to the health care setting, where they experience a variety of challenges, stressors and more significantly, a high attrition rate (Cubit and Ryan, 2011, Phillips

Methods

The purpose of this study was to describe formal preparation in terms of study days, theoretical content and supernumerary strategies nursing graduates are provided with throughout their first year of nursing, whilst employed in work based year-long graduate nurse programs. The participants were GNPCs who were purposefully chosen as they were deemed ‘information rich’ (Borbasi, Jackson, & Langford, 2008) and able to provide in-depth knowledge on graduate nurse programs due to their supervisory

Demographics

The majority (80%) of participants were female with approximately two thirds (63%) employed for periods of between five to twenty-six years as graduate nurse program coordinators with direct involvement of nursing graduates. Just over half (53%) of the participants worked in metropolitan based health services, with the remaining 46% located regionally or rurally. Close to three quarters (73%) of these participants were from public health services and the remaining 26% were from the private

Discussion

This study sought to examine views of GNPCs in order to extend what is already known and better understand the various models of graduate nurse programs in Victoria. In our interviews, GNPCs discussed strategies they perceived were beneficial to nursing graduates to enhance their transition from nursing student to registered nurse in their first year of practice. Experiential research investigating the factors that underpin a successful graduate nurse program has been limited. Most research and

Conclusions

This research sought to explore viewpoints of graduate nurse program coordinators (GNPCs) on the education model underpinning individual graduate nurse programs and the strategies in place to ensure newly qualified registered nurses are supported throughout their first year of practice. Findings indicate that there is variation in programs across Victoria, including numbers of rotations and study days, and educational content. Due to the diversity of health care settings in Victoria, one

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the graduate nurse program coordinators who shared their time and thoughts in the interviews.

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