The transition from student life to professional life is a challenging and stressful phase for many graduating nurses worldwide (Mooney, 2007). Being a clinical preceptor at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan, I have witnessed first-hand, the struggle of new graduates to make the transition from student to graduate nurse. Specifically, they seem to strhave difficuggle toy in performing skills and procedures independently, and are overwhelmed with the expectations of their supervisors to get familiarized with the work environment, policies and procedures in a short time frame. It is difficult for them to learn how to communicate with other health care professionals as a member of the health care team. Orientation to their new role is often short, and does not address inter-professional communication. Moreover, taking on the complete responsibility of patient care, timely documentation, medication administration, delegation, and prioritization places added pressure on them. The fear of making medical errors increases their stress, and they worry that such mistakes may have harmful consequences to their new career. Authors Wu, Diane, Stokes, & Adam (2012) concur that immense responsibility comes with the transition from nursing student to professional qualified registered nurse. The transition to professional nurse immerses new graduates into a clinical setting that presents a completely different picture of clinical scenarios from what they experience as students:; it is unpredictable, and their “safety net” of having a clinical instructor to guide them and confer with is suddenly gone (Mooney, 2007).
Senior registered nurses play a significant role in facilitating the transition of new graduate nurses and helping them to adjust to the hospital routines and the environment. They work as peer instructors, facilitators, mentors or preceptors to make the transition of new nurses smoother. According to Zilembo and Menterosso (2008), the virtuous efforts of preceptors can provide new graduates with the opportunity to settle into a clinical environment quickly, as well as increase their level of confidence to work independently. Therefore, a successful relationship between preceptor and preceptee enhances self-esteem and confidence level, as well as the professional and personal growth of both (Matua, Seshan, Savithri, & Fronda, 2014).
Novice nurses are the future of nursing, thus investing and providing them with proper learning opportunities in the beginning phase of their careers is vital (Hollywood, 2011). Preceptors are key supporting pillars in the transition of nursing graduates. Not only do the preceptors enhance new nurse’s' clinical knowledge and skills, but they also directly contribute to the delivery of quality patient care, and the retention and satisfaction of new nurses. Pakistan is listed as one of the 57 countries with critical workforce deficiencies according to the Joint Learning Initiative Report in 2004. Moreover, according to Khurshid Khowaja and Rashida J.Merchat (2015), 20% of nurses resigned from tertiary care university hospitals in Pakistan between 1996 to 1999 due to professional incompetence and job dissatisfaction. Currently, the role of preceptors in the transition of new graduate nurses remain largely unexplored in many teaching hospitals, schools of nursing and universities in Pakistan. As such, health systems, both in private and public sectors continue to grapple with the issues of unprepared new nurses that contribute to outcomes such as poor quality patient care, low patient/family satisfaction, low job satisfaction of new graduate nurses, and low nurse retention.