Ready for What? An Exploration of the Meaning of New Graduate Nurses' Readiness for Practice

Abstract

Dialogue continues on the "readiness" of new graduates for practice despite significant advancements in the foundational educational preparation for nurses. In this paper, the findings from an exploratory study about the meaning of new graduate "readiness" for practice are reported. Data was collected during focus group interviews with one-hundred and fifty nurses and new graduates. Themes were generated using content analysis. Our findings point to agreement about the meaning of new graduate nurses' readiness for practice as having a generalist foundation and some job specific capabilities, providing safe client care, keeping up with the current realities of nursing practice, being well equipped with the tools needed to adapt to the future needs of clients, and possessing a balance of doing, knowing, and thinking. The findings from this exploratory study have implications for policies and programs targeted towards new graduate nurses entering practice.