Background: The experience of the transition from a student nurse to a registered nurse is a challenging period for newly graduated registered nurses.
Aim: To explore newly graduated registered nurses' experiences of transition from student to registered nurse in clinical practice.
Design: A qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 Kuwaiti newly graduated registered nurses.
Findings: The findings generated three themes: nursing support; education preparation; and psychological wellbeing.
Discussion and conclusion: This study is the first in Kuwait aiming to understand Kuwaiti national newly graduated registered nurses' transition experiences from student nurses to registered nurses in clinical practice. While the study revealed that newly graduated registered nurses received limited organisational support, the nursing policymakers in health care organisations and nursing education in Kuwait need to develop plans to improve newly graduated registered nurses' knowledge, skills and confidence and align them with the roles and realities of actual nursing practice, to improve retention. There is a need to change the societal image of nursing in Kuwait by highlighting the importance of the nursing profession within the health care delivery. The study recommends further research on newly graduated registered nurses' transition experiences into their new nursing roles to identify the factors behind their decision to stay or to leave, as this could offer possible solutions to address newly graduated registered nurses' retention in the future.
Keywords: job satisfaction; newly graduated registered nurses; retention; social image; support; transition; turnover.