NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay

Week 6: 3-Minute Reflection (2-3 Paragraphs APA Format)

TOPIC: 3 TECHNIQUES TO REDUCE STREE FOR NURSING STUDENT (For example, Meditation, exercise, breathing technique, get enough sleep, eat well), etc…

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Criteria

1. Writes about the assigned topic:

2. Demonstrates strong evidence of reasoned reflection. NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay

3. Demonstrated depth of original thought.

4.Grammar and spelling are correct

5. APA formatting to be used for this assignment

Nurses have a long process of transition from the time they are undergraduate students in nursing schools to the time of being graduate nurses. This is a time when the graduate nurses face many challenges regarding their job. It is crucial for the nurses to develop ways of coping with these challenges, and the best way to do this is by coming up with relevant strategies to help them cope with these issues (Cowen &Moorhead, 2011 p. 612).This requires intense processes of socialization where they get to meet different people in the health profession who will have different demands from them. It is upon a newly-graduated nurse to identify ways of coping with the demands of each of them. The environment is also challenging; hence there is a need for the nurses to come up with ways of exerting power and control over the challenging work environment. Nurses participating in the professional development of self and others around them face numerous challenges especially during the initial days of their work life. The nurses have to strive to ensure that they cope with the challenges and demands of their professional development. NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay

Challenges faced by midwives
Working in a challenging environment with many responsibilities means that a nurse will face many challenges. This is the case for nurses who just graduated and have to face the numerous challenges facing them in the health facilities (DeYoung, 2009 p.78).Their environment is so challenging, and they are not equipped with the necessary skills to deal with these challenges.
One of the key challenges faced by new nurses in the midwifery unit is the huge gap that exists between what they are taught in college and the reality of the nursing world. It is common to find students who have just graduated having a hard time relating what they have been learning during their years at school and applying them in the real workplace. Reality shock hits the students when they arrive at the work place, and they have to do things differently from what they were taught back in school. The procedures used by older nurses in the health facilities differ from the theories nurses learn in school. One comes out of school ready to apply the knowledge learnt, but once they get to their workstations, they realise that this is actually different from what they expected to find. One is then torn between adapting to practice roles or using the theories they learnt in school. This creates a loyalty conflict within the new nurse’s role in the health facility. He or she will be torn between sticking with the aspects of nursing they learnt in school and conforming to the professional work environment, and their way of doing things (Ellis & Hartley, 2012 p. 123). NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay
The health care delivery system is designed in such a way that nurses have to work together to ensure that quality services are delivered to the patients (Auerhahn & Malone, 2010).This requires all the nurses to be on the same page when it comes to different issues facing the patients. This becomes an issue for the new nurses who have a lot to learn about the “real health care setting.” This is a huge challenge for new nurses as they try to fit in to the new routine and new teams. This may be due to the low experience they have with dealing with their fellow staff and dealing with clients. The lack of skills to deal with clients leads to frustration among the new graduates. They feel inadequate when they do not cope with the responsibilities accorded to them in time. This leads to frustrations and other emotional issues that may not be healthy for the nurses (Grady, 1987 p. 56). NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay
Newly-registered nurses lack proper skills to set their priorities allocate time wisely and face the demands of the nursing career. This requires a lot of experience to help one identify how to do everything correctly and at the right time. The ambiguity of the job means that the nurses do not feel satisfied with their job. They lack the skills necessary to respond positively to the nursing roles. Speed is a key feature in nursing. This is a key challenge for the new nurses. Speed comes with time as one knows how to manage and apply different skills. For new nurses, this is a key issue. They do not have the speed to cope with the workload presented to them by the older nurses (Grady, 1987 p. 46).
Bullying by older nurses is also a key challenge faced by new nurses. Older nurses set high expectations for the new nurses placing them at a dilemma on what they have to d to please them. There is lack of a supportive and friendly work environment where the older nurses integrate nurses into the system. As a result the new nurses feel a lot of pressure from the other challenges regarding their duties, and the pressure coming from the older nurses. New nurses need time learn to do things the way other experienced nurses perform, and adapt to the changes in their life. This creates a lot of emotional and physical exhaustion for the new nurse until he or she learns to adapt to the new working environment. This comes from the huge difference that exists between the bureaucratic system of working and the professional way of doing things (Ellis & Hartley, 2012 p. 124).
The other challenge faced by new nurses is the exhaustion that arises due to the heavy workload new nurses has in the health facilities. It is common for new nurses to receive the most demanding patients who require a lot of attention. This may be seen as part of the orientation process where the new nurses learn from doing all the difficult tasks around the work environment. For the new nurses, this provides a huge challenge that takes up a lot of their time and energy. The allocation of all the high-dependency patients means that the new nurses have a lot of things to do when they are on duty. They are still new to the challenging work environment, and the work load is heavy (Ellis & Hartley, 2012 p.  NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay 124). This exhausts them on different levels as they try to cope with the numerous responsibilities that come from being a newly registered nurse. The other challenge that is linked to this is the lack of enough staff in the hospital to deal with the different duties in the hospital or health facility. It is difficult for the new nurses to have all the nurses to take in everything that comes with being a new nurse. The roles and responsibilities accorded to the nurses are numerous. This is highly exhausting for those who do not know how to balance everything.
The graduates have to focus on adapting to the new environment. The new graduates have to learn to adapt to the roles of a Registered nurse and the challenging hospital setting. As a registered nurse, one has numerous responsibilities. He or she not only has to take care of patients, but has to be on the lookout for welfare of other nurses in the facility. It is upon the RN to ensure that his or her actions do not hurt others. All these take up a lot of time and commitment. The hospital setting also places a lot of pressure to the new nurses. There are many new things they have to learn about the hospital setting. It is therefore, challenging for the registered nurse (Gallagher, 1991 p. 54) to integrate everything considering they lack the experience the older nurses have got over time.
Adapting and learning new things in order to build their capabilities and that of other nurses in the department provides a challenge to the nurses. They are faced with numerous problems regarding their transition to the health care setting. The nurses do not have time to focus on learning new ways of doing things and simplifying the work of others. This is a key issue that affect new nurses. They do not have time to focus on improving their abilities; hence they take time before they can improve their performance levels and help build that of others around them (Zerwekh & Garneau, 2011 p. 90). NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay

Strategies that new graduates should apply
As discussed in the challenges provided above, nurses face the challenge of adapting to the professional world, which is different from the one they learnt in school. The two worlds apply different ways of operation. To the new nurses, this is a major challenge as they feel threatened when they cannot relate what they learnt in school to what they are actually experiencing in the real work place. It is therefore, important for the students to be open about everything that comes their way (Limon & Spencer, 1981 p. 121). This entails keeping an open mind to any change in procedure one may encounter in the workplace. The key strategy that should help eliminate this is the corporation between the high education sector and the different health agencies. This requires both parties to come up with a proper way of contributing to new ways of improving the experience of students and new nurses. They can do this by having clinical practices that make the transition process easy for the new nurses. NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay
A key strategy to dealing with the challenges experienced by new nurses is the use of a positive preceptor relationship. The higher learning institutions and the health agencies can ensure that a positive preceptor relationship that will nurture the student exits. This is by coming up with proper programs that introduce the students to various aspects of the real nursing experience (Cowen & Moorhead 2011:90). This exposes the nurse to various issues that affect him or her Preceptor programs are one of the most effective ways of preparing and equipping the students with all the skills they will require fitting in and going on with the transition process smoothly. NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay
Confidence and competency is an important skill and trait for the new nurses. They require these to fit in to the working environment as soon as they can. Through the preceptor programs, the students are able to gain all the skills and knowledge they require to fit in to the working environment. With the guidance of a preceptor registered nurse, the students gain all the information they need about working away from the theories they learn in a classroom setting. They get a feel of what they should expect once they graduate and go to work in a real hospital with real patients. The value of this program to the students is high; hence the need to adapt it during the last year of the students learning process. This will help expose the student to various work experience. As the nurse and the preceptor work together, the student learns how to care for the patient, and deal with other duties that nurses have to perform. This exposes the nurse to various issues, and helps him or her know how to deal with issues autonomously (Limon & Spencer, 1981 p. 123). NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay
The other strategy to help nurses fit in to the work experience during their transition process is through provision of a mentor. Most of the time, nurses are taken through the orientation program that do not last for long. They do not get the chance to full understand what they need to do at particular times and situations. Everyone needs to find someone they can look up to and ask for advice when they are faced with different problems. This can be work-related or personal life. Having a more experienced person than you means that they can give you quality advice on what you should do when faced with an issue. This is the case with new graduates in nursing. They need to have someone they can look up to when they are down, and want someone to talk to about different issues (Limon & Spencer, 1981 p. 124). Mentors play a crucial role in making the transition process easy for the nurses. They can ask for advice when they do not know how to deal with issues relating to their work. It is upon the mentor to build a trusting relationship between him and her with the graduate nurse. This will build the abilities of the nurse to act in a positive way and help other staff deal with their issues. It is upon the nurses to help each other out when they are faced with various challenges. The same applies to the new nurses. They need someone to look up to in the health setting.
The health setting should also come up with a supportive environment for the new graduates. This entails coming up with a good induction program where the new nurses undergo a detailed orientation process. This should not be a one or two week orientation program as seen in many healthcare settings. It is vital to have an ongoing orientation process (Cowen & Moorhead, 2011 p. 90). The new nurses have many things to learn. It is not just about having them learn the health policies used in the health facility, and all the location of various units. It should entail a detailed plan where they are taken through various issues affecting the nurses. The nurses should also have someone who will help them with their duties for about three to six months. They will act as a reference point for the nurses when they have any issue with their work. The work environment should also promote incremental development of clinical skills. This also entails developing patient management skills that will help the nurse deal with issues regarding patients.
The structure of the workforce should also be in favour of the new nurses. There should be corporation between the experienced nurses and the new nurses. The health setting should be structured in such a manner that builds a trusting relationship between older nurses and the newly-graduated nurses. The older registered nurses should be ready and committed to assist the new nurses during their transition to the process. They should know that this is a lifelong process. New nurses will come, and they will also require guidance and assistance on how to deal with different roles and duties assigned to nurses (Benner, 2010 p. 122). NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay
The older nurses, therefore have to minimize the amount of work given to the new nurses. This will offer the nurses a chance to appreciate and enjoy the success they make with the few patients they attend to during their initial time in the hospital. The nurses need to be friendly to the new nurses (Gallagher, 1991 p. 89). This will give the graduate nurses a positive feel of the career. They will also have the confidence to approach the older nurses and ask for advice when they feel the need. This requires a climate that promotes open communication between the nurses and other players in the health profession. NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay
It is also crucial for the new nurses to have positive and timely feedback regarding nay issue facing them. New nurses are fragile especially due to the frustrations associated with the stress of fitting in to the professional world. The nurses need to have assurance of their performance. It is crucial for the nurse to do a self-review to determine how he or she is coping in the new working environment (National competency standards for the registered nurse, 2006 p. 3). However, giving him or her, a positive and timely feedback will boost their desire to work hard and achieve his or her goals.
It is crucial for the nurses to participate in personal strategies that will help them deal with the challenges facing them at the workplace. This may include various activities like doing regular exercises and taking part in recreational activities that will increase their physical strength. This will also go a long way in reducing their stress levels (Benner, 2010 p. 132). NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay

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The other strategy that can help nurses deal with the challenges faced during the transition process is preparing to handle all the challenges that will come their way. The nurses know that it is difficult to fit in to the challenging nursing roles. It is therefore, crucial for them to anticipate these challenges. This will prepare them psychologically and emotionally. They can also come up with different ways of coping with these challenges. Preparing to face challenges ensures that one is well-equipped to face them once they come across the various challenges. The nurses will also have an idea of what will happen once they go to work (Cowen & Moorhead, 2011 p. 76).

Conclusion
It is crucial for all nursing students to identify that there is a difference between what they have been learning in class to what they will see when they start working. It is therefore, important for them to know that culture shock will hit them when they go to work, and they are torn between the bureaucratic culture and the professional work. The challenges that will face them are numerous. They will range from personal issues, colleagues issues and the patients placed under their care. This will force the nurses to adapt strategies that will help them through the challenging experienced during the transition process. These strategies can be from personal initiatives or from the health facility. The health sector and the institutions for higher learning can do a lot to ensure that the transition process is smooth for both parties. They can do this by coming up with programs during the fourth year of training. This includes a preceptor program that exposes the students to various issues that will affect them. This also builds their confidence in their ability to solve issues (Clark, 2003 p. 134). NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay

The transition from a nursing student to a registered nurse is a critical career turning point among the nursing trainees. It is a point in which student nurses experience both exciting and challenging moments as they struggle to adapt to their professions. As such, they require mentors to encourage and guide them through their career development. During this transition point, student nurses need adequate time to adapt to the work environment, roles, responsibilities, and the underlying change of identities. Of great importance is their ability to switch from protected training institution to the authentic world that underpins their careers. However, the duration that nursing students take to adjust and adapt to the demanding professional roles varies from one trainee to another. In most countries, the transition period is the first twelve months after graduation upon which the student is recognised as a qualified nursing professional. NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay

Several studies in the literature review are in consensus that the nursing trainees encounter numerous challenges during the transition period. In some instances, the new professionals quit their jobs if there are no role models to guide them. The occurrence of such incidences explains the rise of nurses’ turnover, especially in the developing countries. According toWong et al., (2018, p.30) stress and work dissatisfaction are criticalelements that are challenging to the nursing trainees during the transition. Hong Kong is one of the cities that records the highest number of nursing students that quit their jobs at the early stagetransition. In this case, the authors noted that the rate steadily increased from 6% in 2011 to 14.5% in 2013. The situation suggests that there is a need for immediate intervention to enable the stakeholders to effectively manage the challenges that the fresh nursing professionals face during a transition. NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay

The change of working environment and roles is the primary challenges that the nursing graduates face during the first month of transition (Edwards et al., 2015, p. 1257). Their stress, in this case, is directly associated with insufficient preparation for the work environment during the study. It is also attributed to the past failures during clinical placements besides little study while in the training institutions. Hofler and Thomas (2016, p. 133) corroborate that excessive workload in the ward is another factor that explains why the nursing students find it difficult to adapt to the nursing field, the underlying practices and responsibilities. The researchers further assert that the graduate nurses placed in surgical wardshave high levels of stress compared to their counterparts in other units of the healthcare facility. Missen, McKenna, L. and Beauchamp (2014, p. 4422) argue that inadequate support from the practising nurses and workload in the health facility are the primary drivers for the trainee resignation. NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay

The process of managing the transition from a student nurse to registered nursing professionals entails a critical analysis of the potential challenges and their solutions. However, such strategies vary from one nursing student to another and for this reason, require appropriate and appropriate tailored to meet individual needs. One of strategies to enhance the effective management of the transition is the formulation of an effective preceptor and mentoring programs. According to Kaihlanen, Lakanmaa, and Salminen, L., (2014, p. 422), preceptor programs play critical roles since it reduces culture shocks among the fresh nursing professionals in transition. It is therefore arguably from this perspective that the preceptor programs foster the attainment of positive outcomes besides integrating theory and practice among the nursing students. The strategy, in this case, supports the graduate nurse to cope with the working culture by incorporating them with the experienced and registered professionals in the healthcare facility. Consequently, trainee nurses will enhance their professional competence, confidence and most importantly the gaining of autonomy when handling patients (Banister, Bowen-Brady & Winfrey, 2014, p. 321).NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay

Self-care is another essential strategy that enables graduate nurses to have exciting experiences during the transition period. In this case, it is an aspect that requires both the registered and the trainee nurses to care for one another as a strategy. The objective is to foster mutual understanding and cordial relationships during the transition. One of the approaches is assigning the trainee professionals thoughtful work as they grow their careers (Kajander-Unkuri et al., 2014, p. 798). They also consider the need to establish a balance between the lifestyle and the roles that they assign the fresh graduates during the initial phases of their transition. The primary objective is to enhance better experiences among nursing students and thus allow them to adapt to the new working environment gradually. That said, the experienced colleagues ought to monitor the skills of their trainee counterparts during eth transition. The key aspects in this context are whether the nursing students are growing both personally and professionally (Phillips et al., 2014, p. 105; Whitehead et al., 2016, p. 64). The self-care programs also enable the registered nurses to monitor anxiety and feelings of exhaustion and thereby adjust the underlying workload besides acting as the caretakers of the trainees in their respective departments of the healthcare system. NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay

A significant proportion of nursing students experience difficulties to interact with the registered nurses. As such, they develop an attitude that they are excluded by their colleagues and thus explain their challenges. Kumaran and Carney (2014, p. 604)argue that fresh nursing professionals have a notion that supportive colleagues play critical roles that enable them to adapt to their roles in the healthcare delivery system. Such trainees also have high expectations that they can quickly grasp nursing roles practices. Accordingly, they get frustrated if they do not meet their aspirations during the first stage of transition. Mellor and Greenhill (2014, p. 54) corroborate that fresh nursing professionals are further stressed when they find significant variation between theoretical knowledge and the actual clinical contexts. The ultimate consequence that underpins their challenges is poor clinical performance and even resignation from the healthcare facility. The authors assert that a close working relationship with the experienced nurses is essential to the trainees. It this case, it enables them to bridge the requisite skills and knowledge that is critical for their career development. NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay

The establishment of a supportive environment in the healthcare delivery system is essential in the process of managing transition among nursing students. It involves promoting a culture that considers the needs of the trainee nurses and allowing them to utilise the available opportunities to enhance their career development. The strategy entails assisting the trainee nurses to overcome anxiety through programs that enable them to breach the gap between nursing theory and the actual practices that are required of any registered nurse (Chen & Lou, 2014, p. 434). As such, the experienced nurses ought to assign nursing roles and monitor how their trainee counterparts are gaining patient management and clinical skills. The critical aspect is the monitoring of the nursing trainee ability to adjust to the working environment and the competence in undertaking their usual roles. Of great importance of a supportive environment is creating a culture that encourages fresh nursing students to feel comfortable when raising their concerns (Pennbran et al., 2013, p. 741; Freeling& Parker, 2015, p. 42). The strategy, in this case, is critical in managing stress and anxiety that adversely affect eth experiences of the trainee nursing professionals. NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay

Extensive use of the word transition in nursing literature signals that it is a significant concept (Ralik, Visentin, Van Loon, 2006). It is essential for nurses to possess knowledge and understanding of transition. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive examination and explore the definitions and key elements of the concept of transition and show how gaining knowledge of transition can positively impact client care and the nursing profession. Understanding transition will help improve client care by teaching nurses how to assess for, and facilitate transition and develop health promotion initiatives. Ultimately, the goal is to have better outcomes for clients going through transition.  NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay
For example, developmental transition is transition that everyone goes though – puberty, menopause, aging. Health and illness transitions usually involve a diagnosis and the process of recovery.
According to Alligood, there are several characteristics of the transition process including awareness, engagement, change, time, and critical points and events, as well as factors that may enable or hinder the process and positive outcome of transition can be personal, community, or societal (2014). Awareness is a major characteristic of transition, so to be in transition, a person must be aware of changes happening (Meleis, 2010). Engagement or involvement in the process of transition may include pursuing and obtaining information and assistance. It is important to recognize that without awareness, engagement will not occur. It is also important to recognize that transition involves change, another characteristic of transition, although change may not necessarily mean transition (Meleis, 2010). A person who goes through the process of transition will go through changes and may view the world from a much different perspective than they previously did.NR103 Transition To The Nursing Essay