The experience of transition from nursing students to newly graduated registered nurses in Singapore

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the experience of newly graduated registered nurses (NGRNs) in Singapore following their initial 6–12 months of transition from nursing student to registered nurse. METHODS: This mixed-methods study consisted of two phases. In the first phase, data were collected via the administration of the online survey to 30 NGRNs. The questionnaire contained 42 items of the four-point Likert scale survey. In the second phase, a focus group interview was conducted with 5 NGRNs to gather complementary information regarding the major findings from the first phase. RESULTS: The survey revealed despite most NGRNs (80%) in this study expressed overall satisfied with their transition, the item score was (2.97±0.61) out of 4, the majority (83.3%) also perceived their transition to professional practice being stressful, the item score was (3.07±0.74) out of 4.Three themes emerged from the interview, ‘personal transition experience’, ‘professional transition experience’, and ‘organizational transition experience’, which are entwined to construct overall NGRNs’ transition experiences. CONCLUSIONS: This study reaffirms the theory-practice gap phenomenon. This signifies the need for closer collaboration between educational, healthcare industry and regulatory stakeholders to examine and address factors that influence their transition experience to better support them for workforce readiness.