New graduate nurses' experiences of what accounts for their lack of professional confidence during their first year of practice

Abstract

Professional confidence is an essential trait for new graduate nurses to possess in order to provide safe and effective patient care in today's complex hospital setting. However, many new graduate nurses are entering the workforce with a lack of professional confidence and it was unclear why this is so. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to find out and understand how new graduate nurses accounted for their lack of professional confidence during their first year of practice in the hospital setting. The primary research question asked about new graduate nurses' experiences during their first year of practice related to the development of professional confidence in the hospital setting. Two sub-questions were used to address circumstances that hindered and promoted the development of professional confidence. Data collection involved two individual, semi-structured, audio recorded interviews which were transcribed verbatim. Each transcript was analyzed through a manual content analysis approach and ultimately, seven themes emerged which answered the research questions. Findings confirmed that seven themes related to a lack of professional confidence in new graduate nurses' experiences: (a) "communication is huge," (b) "making mistakes," (c) "disconnect between school and practice," (d) " independence," (e) "relationship building," (f) "positive feedback is important," and (g) "gaining experience." These findings revealed that new graduate nurses lacked professional confidence upon entry into practice which had implications for both undergraduate nursing education programs and workplace support for new graduate nurses in the hospital setting. Undergraduate nursing education programs may have a duty to improve strategies that prepare graduates for entry into professional practice. Nurse leaders in practice, specifically, nurse managers and preceptors must be mindful of the fact that new graduate nurses are entering the workforce with a lack of professional confidence and that it is in their power to promote the development of professional confidence during the first year of practice.