New Graduate Nurses in the Intensive Care Setting: Preparing Them for Patient Death

The COVID-19 pandemic and nursing shortage has impacted new graduate nurse (NGN) careers. Many NGNs gain initial employment with intensive care areas, encountering unprecedented stress due to high patient acuities, technology, and deaths. Having not yet transitioned into nursing practice, the NGN can experience a reality shock. Nurses are responsible for the care of the dying patient in the intensive care setting, despite inconsistencies in undergraduate curricula on death and dying. Nurse residency programs provide transition-to-practice support and reduce the stressors experienced by NGNs. Residency programs which specifically include palliative care and/or end-of-life content can positively impact stress, burnout, and turnover rates in NGNs.