The transition from student nurse to staff nurse has been filled with emotions that have been both exciting and challenging.
First, there is the thrill of being signed off as a registered adult nurse and preparing all the documentation I needed for a job interview. Then there is making the application to the nurses' registration board and the challenges that come with starting any job.
Although this was a very productive period, there was an element of fear, which also played a big part in the transition from nursing student to fully fledged professional. As a newly qualified nurse, I was full of apprehension and self-doubt.
Targets
Before starting my management placement at the critical care unit, I set myself targets that I considered to be reasonable and that I hoped would ease the sense of self-doubt I'd been feeling in the run-up to qualifying.
These targets included being involved in a handover of a patient in my care, the delegation of tasks and being able to manage a patient load with confidence. My mentor and I allocated time to discuss these targets and ways that they could be improved by, for example, devising a format for handovers that allowed space to consider a patient's past, present and future care, providing an opportunity for a comprehensive discussion about a patient's past medical history, diagnosis, further investigations, current condition and future aims.
This system made sense to me because it allowed me to prioritise the most important points and avoided any moments of deviation. At first, prioritising information was a challenge. However, I observed other handovers and learnt that identifying information relevant to the progress of a patient, enabled me to recognise which information needed prioritising.
These were targets that, at the time, I saw as impossible to achieve. However, despite my fearful emotions they turned out to be achievable. This was possibly due to the support and guidance I had from the sign-off mentor, as well as other nurses who were always enthusiastic about my learning, and who challenged my knowledge as well as my skills.
Preparation
From the start of our degree programme we were advised about the preparations that would be necessary to make the transition process from nursing student to qualified nurse a smooth one. This made a lot more sense once I began to use the pre-planned documents. In particular, they were a great help when I was preparing for my job interview.
We began pre-planning from the very start of the course. We were guided towards preparing a portfolio that we didn't know at the time would be an essential component for my job interview; it provided evidence of the different activities I had undertaken during my 3 years of studying. Throughout the 3 years we had lectures aimed at preparing us for the transition period and highlighting the importance of mentorship.
‘Working with a mentor enabled me to engage with other staff members, helping me to feel valued and accepted as a member of the team’
Looking back, I can see the benefits of mentorship in preparing me to start my new role as a qualified adult nurse. Not only has it shaped me into becoming a safe practitioner, but it has also given me a sense of belonging. Working with a mentor in the different placement areas enabled me to engage with other staff members, helping me to feel valued and accepted as a member of the team.
Structured support
The concept of preceptorship, which is a structured programme for newly qualified nurses, was included in our discussions about the transition period. These programmes are intended to support and guide new registrants to work as autonomous professionals (Spector, 2015), develop their skills and confidence, and work as part of a multidisciplinary team. Time must also be set aside for new nurses to learn and to meet with their preceptor.
According to Marquis and Huston (2014), preceptorship is important in helping to create a working environment that is safe because it promotes communication, which is vital for the delivery of high-quality care.
Preceptorship is, therefore, essential for the successful transition from nursing student to newly qualified, accountable nurse. I feel it will encourage me to understand my own limitations. Having access to a preceptor will allow me, as a newly qualified nurse, to feel that I am a valued member of the multidisciplinary team.