Developing work readiness in graduate nurses undertaking transition to practice programs: An integrative review

Abstract

Objective: Investigate the strategies used to support graduate transition-to-practice, and how they align with the four domains of work readiness: work competence; personal work characteristics; organisational acumen; and social intelligence.

Design: Integrative review with narrative synthesis.

Data sources: Databases searched in 2019 included Medline, CINAHL, PsychINFO, Embase via EBSCO, ERIC and MIDIRS. Grey literature was obtained through Proquest Dissertations and Thesis Global, and Trove.

Review methods: The 5-step method included: 1) Independent title and abstract review; 2) discussion of conflicting findings after title and abstract review; 3) independent full text review; 4) discussion of conflicting findings after full text review; and 5) quality evaluation using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Twenty eligible studies were analyzed and synthesized using the framework method informed by four domains of Graduate Work Readiness.

Results: Of the 24 strategies identified, most (n = 20) supported graduate development across two or more work readiness domains. Structured education (n = 14) and preceptorship (n = 13) were most often used, and findings related to development of graduate work competence (n = 17) were most often measured. All four domains of work readiness were seldom addressed, with social intelligence a common gap.

Conclusions: This review provides two important considerations for graduate nurse programs. First, a combination of strategies is required to address all four domains of work readiness. Second, there is a need to tailor strategies, and their implementation, to the context of the organisation and clinical workplace.

Keywords: Graduate nurse; Integrative review; Nursing; Transition to practice programs; Work readiness.