Making the Transition from enrolled to registered nurse

A phenomenological approach was used to examine the lived experience of nine former enrolled nurses making the transition from nursing student to graduate nurse, identifying three main themes that described the nurses' experiences of transition: responsibility and accountability, change, and job satisfaction.

Abstract

Each year among the university graduates who become eligible to register as nurses for the first time, there are a number of people who have previously trained and practiced as enrolled nurses. There is little research that examines the experiences and needs of this unique group of simultaneously experienced and novice nurses. In this paper, a phenomenological approach was used to examine the lived experience of nine former enrolled nurses making the transition from nursing student to graduate nurse. Data from extensive interviews with these nine nurses was examined using van Manen's (1990) steps of thematic analysis. The grouping of concepts into subthemes led to the identification of three main themes that described the nurses' experiences of transition: responsibility and accountability, change, and job satisfaction. Excerpts from interview transcripts are used as exemplars in discussion of the meaning and importance of these findings. The findings of this study will inform nurse education and graduate transition support services.