NURSES IN TRANSITION: FIRST YEAR CHALLENGES (EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, MORAL REASONING, ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING).
Contributors: University of Kentucky.
Published: 1994
Number of pages: 133
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Education, Higher.
Description: This qualitative study examined the experiences of new graduates during the transition from student nurses to practicing registered nurses. The works of Kramer (1974) and Benner (1984) were foundational in consideration of clinical practice. Participants' values and moral conflicts were explored in relation to an ethic of caring explicated by Noddings (1984), Gilligan (1982), and Watson (1985).

Fifteen new graduates of three small liberal arts programs and one associate degree program participated. All participants were employed in hospitals and most worked in critical care units. Data were obtained through two semi-structured and open-ended interviews with participants at approximately three and 11 months after graduation. Study participants related their experiences, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during audiotaped interviews which were transcribed and coded according to categories.

Major themes that emerged were experiential learning, gendered work relations, caring and giving care, and the influence of college on moral reasoning and nursing practice. Experiential learning was vital to participants' acquisition of technical skills and self-confidence. Their efforts to care and give care were compromised by gendered work relations. Caring and giving care were dominant concerns throughout the transition period. New nurses were especially troubled by ethical dilemmas in regard to dying patients. New graduates believed that college taught them to recognize ethical dilemmas and to think critically. Comparison of participants' comments at different points in time suggest that they cling to caring values in a sometimes indifferent work environment. Although some new nurses adjusted their values to adapt to the work reality, others maintained their ethic of caring and attempted to act on those values.

Participants' stories support the concept of a distinct transitional process in the movement from school to work. Nursing in conjunction with a liberal arts education may contribute to development of a caring ethic and critical thinking abilities. These attributes, however, are difficult to enact in bureaucratic work settings with competing professional hierarchies. The experiences of new graduates in the hospital workplace support an argument for a nursing curriculum based on a caring framework emphasizing ethical decision-making.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-03, Section: B, page: 1346.

Thesis (ED.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY, 1994.

School code: 0102.