Nursing Prelicensure Employment and its Impact on Transition to Practice
The transition from studying in prelicensure nursing programs to practicing as a registered nurse (RN) is challenging for many new graduates. This project examines current literature about the challenges that new graduates face in their transition to practice, the impact that employment in healthcare has on this transition, and the perspectives of nursing students, current RNs, and nursing educators on this topic. While there is limited research on this subject, the literature available suggests that there are benefits to working in health care outside of school while a nursing student, and that it positively impacts transition into practice as an RN. This proposed qualitative exploration will add to the evidence around the benefits of healthcare employment by prelicensure nurses. It may be a driver to curriculum changes in prelicensure nursing programs to facilitate nursing students’ transition into practice as RNs.