Nurses are essential in the healthcare system because of their role in providing care to patients and ensuring patient safety. The United States Bureau of Labor and Statistics data show that registered nurses form the largest employee population in the country, and it is expected that there will be a sixteen Per Cent increase by 2024(Kreedi et al., 2021, p. 94). New graduate nurses are the future of nursing. The education nurses are impacted with as they join the workforce as newly registered nurses is thus vital for building a sustainable and quality workforce that will serve the population in future. According to Kreedi et al., new graduate nurses are nurses who have no previous clinical experience in patient care, organizational procedures, and policies on patient care. This paper, therefore, reviews their roles, expectations, challenges, and strategies that assist new nurses in transitioning into the profession.

Roles of New Graduate Nurse in Today’s Complex Healthcare Environment

The role of nurses is evolving as their task in providing healthcare widens. Therefore, nurses have embraced evidence-based roles. New graduate nurses are consequently equipped to perform these roles, which include;

Ensuring the safety of patients. A new healthcare role that has emerged is patient safety. Therefore, the role of nurses has been shaped to ensure that they prioritize patient safety (Punjot, 2019, p. 433). This thus ensures that patients receive the best care (Punjot, 2019, p. 433).

Therefore, graduate nurses transition into this role and must ensure the safety of families and patients by undertaking a risk assessment.

Nurses also play the role of a researcher. Nurses may sometimes begin their careers as research assistants, data coordinators, and clinical research monitors in today's complex world. Through this role, nurses usually partner with other medicine and engineering professionals to find ways of addressing complex medical issues (Punjot, 2019, p. 433). Through nursing research, the profession can build evidence-based practices and guide interventions in the field (Punjot, 2019, p. 433). This is important because continuous improvement in the nursing profession is achieved through continuous research.

Another role is that of a case manager. New graduate nurses can choreograph all aspects of a patient necessary for in-patient care and, as a result, coordinate with doctors, therapists, and other professionals involved in patient care (Punjot, 2019, p. 433). This role is vital because hospitals are discharging patients more quickly, and the need for case managers has increased; with an increase in demand for case managers, nurses have adopted this important role.

Lastly is managing hospital operations. Nurses help in decision making on the quality and management of healthcare resources (Punjot, 2019, p. 433). Additionally, nurses are important in mandating policy, organizational and systems procedures (Punjot, 2019, p. 433). Nurses also help management make crucial decisions on workplace safety (Punjot, 2019, p. 433). Nurses play an essential role in managing hospital operations by advising management on policies and operational issues.

Skills, Knowledge, and Attitude Nursing Leaders Desire in New Nurse

Nurse leaders have an essential obligation to develop future leaders in the healthcare sector. Nursing leaders look at various aspects of new nurses, which include:

Possession of basic knowledge and skills required of the nursing profession. In a study conducted to find out the needed qualities of a new graduate nurse in visiting home, over seventy per cent of the participants indicated the importance of having a basic understanding of medicine and basic nursing skills (Akiyama & Fukuyama, 2020). The findings also showed that it was important for nurses to assess patients' lives, including their social resources (Akiyama & Fukuyama, 2020). This is important because a previous study showed that graduate nurses had difficulties dealing with patients with several complications and comorbidities (Akiyama & Fukuyama, 2020). Additionally, the graduates also had difficulties with care based and patient needs. Therefore, graduate nurses must possess high proficiency.

Another aspect has the appropriate attitude as a member of society. For instance, a study done in Japan showed that many families and patients preferred polite nurses. Additionally, being courteous was also crucial for the patients regarding greetings, good relationships, and friendly conversations with families (Akiyama & Fukuyama, 2020). Therefore, based on this research, nurses must have an excellent attitude to dealing with members of society.

Personal Communication with Nurse leader on New Nurse's Experience

In a conversation with a Chief Nursing Officer at a local hospital in my home area, a major problem with dealing with new nurses has been the current skill gap many new nurses face across the country. Therefore, the hospital has been challenged to find the diverse skill needed for the profession. Consequently, it has been difficult for hospitals to fill various openings available across the country. According to the CNO, nursing is a fast-paced job, and new challenges are arising daily; thus, there is a need for academic institutions to amend this because the older generation is retiring, and there is a need for a new generation to fill this gap.

Issues and Challenges Faced by New Nurses Entering the Workforce

New Nurses usually face several challenges, among them being the physical challenge. Studies show that new graduates use a lot of energy to discharge clinical tasks. Therefore, new graduates had to find ways of doing domestic routines while undergoing personal and development changes (Martinez, 2020). According to research, this comes from the expectation of their supervisors and managers to perform advanced practice with full responsibility (Martinez, 2020). This led to new nurses being strained because of mounting pressure and fatigue.

The other challenge is a transitional shock. Research has shown that new nurses undergo transition shock within the first year of their nursing profession (Martinez, 2020). This is because academic theory and practice inconsistencies, workload, and dealing with an unfamiliar healthcare team made them feel unprepared. Therefore, this is a significant challenge facing new graduates. Lastly are emotional challenges because of working in palliative, acute and oncology departments, which are highly emotional because of deaths (Martinez, 2020). This, therefore, was a major challenge faced by new graduates.

Strategies to assist New Nurses in Transitioning into the Nursing Profession

Provide new graduate nurses with mentors. This new graduate will have a support system (Martinez, 2020). This combined support from various health professionals will support them and reduce feelings of self-doubt, anger, fear, and disappointment.

Another strategy has the correct nurse to patient ratio to ensure quality care. This is important because research has shown that the lack of a proper nurse and patient balance emotionally stressed new nurses, resulting in burnout, fatigue, high attrition levels, and lousy patient outcomes (Martinez, 2020). Therefore, the right nurse-patient ratio will help new nurses transition.

Third is academic institutions developing curriculums based on patients' needs and healthcare settings. In a study on nurses' transition, several nurses revealed they did not receive extensive experience to boost their self-confidence (Martinez, 2020). Therefore, formulating a curriculum based on clinical settings may improve the experience of new nurses.

Lastly is extending supervision during clinical practice. This is important because research has shown that preceptorship reduces new nurses' fear, stress, and emotional challenges because of a high support network (Martinez, 2020). Therefore, it is essential to supervise recent graduates and give them support.

Conclusion

Nurses are vital in the healthcare system. The number of new graduate nurses is expected to increase steadily in the United States by 2024. Therefore, it is essential to develop nurses who can meet the demand of the industry and address the challenges they face during this transition by offering mentorship, improving the nurse-patient ratio, creating an academic curriculum that meets the expectation of the industry and providing supervision during the initial stages to facilitate a swift transition.