Outstanding Assignment of the Week - Nursing Assignment

Assignment Solution

Transitioning to Workplace Although the healthcare environment is extremely dynamic in nature, the demand for young, enthusiastic and dedicated nursing professionals remains unchanged. Further, with a significant proportion of experienced nursing professionals gradually approaching the age of their retirement, the demand for fresh graduates is becoming increasingly critical (Brown et al, 2016). At the same time however, clinical workplaces are under an increased pressure to operate in an efficient and lean manner owing to increase consumerism, tightening of regulatory laws and a drop in amount of reimbursements available (Pineau Stam et al, 2015). This pressure has been passed on to educational programs which are expected to produce professionals who are completely work-ready as soon as they enter the workforce (Skarbek et al, 2015). Although several creative efforts have been undertaken so as to ensure smooth transition from education to workplace, new graduates face a lot of challenges (Windey, 2017). This might be attributed to the fact that they are expected to assume full accountability as a registered nurse despite joining as a fresher in this domain (MacLean et al, 2016). In this context, the essay is aimed at drawing support for this theme by explicitly refereeing to literature and practice resources and highlighting major challenges which new graduates popularly face. Very first challenge that new graduates face while assuming full accountability as a registered nurse consists of a steep increase in the number of patients that they are expected to handle along with complexity of their tasks (Skarbek et al, 2015). Owing to scarcity of qualified registered nurses in healthcare settings, new graduates (just like experienced professionals) are required to manage multiple patients (MacLean et al, 2016). They might also continuously encounter patients with co-morbidities and complex conditions and might be required to make independent decisions in these circumstances (Thomas et al, 2015). Disease statistics presented by the Australian Bureau of Statistics clearly indicate disproportionately increasing rates of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, obesity, renal dysfunction and mental health issues (Andrews, 2013). While tending to such complicated cases, it might be necessary to be a part of an inter-professional team and lead the same as and when required (Fitzpatrick & Gripshover, 2016). Other staff members tend to look up to registered nurses for their help and support thereby making them accountable for their own decisions and the decision of their team members (O’Rae et al, 2016). Prioritising tasks, creating and concluding professional relationships also tend to form a part of responsibility that new graduates are supposed to assume in clinical settings (Veerapen & Purkis, 2014). Lack of prior experience and complete accountability of their and often their team member’s medical decisions breeds fear and makes it harder for new graduates to adjust to their workplace. Assuming full accountability of their actions as a registered nurse also introduces new graduates to extreme stress, fatigue and performance anxiety. Owing to continuing scarcity of qualified professionals, new graduates (in similarity with experienced professionals) might be required to multi-task (Pineau Stam et al, 2015). In other words, they are often required to tend to more than one patient at the same time and device care plans in accordance with their unique needs. This creates stress in the work environment (Thomas et al, 2015). Further, performing at par with expectations might require fresh graduates to constantly refer back to literature so as to be able to derive standard practices. New graduates also face difficulties while trying to refer standards and codes of practice which apply to their practice and might therefore perform under constant fear of performing outside their scope of practice (MacLean et al, 2016). The aspect of fatigue comes into play when new graduates are forced to comply with mandatory overtime and cover for additional sessions. This might be compounded with weekly training and review sessions (Windey, 2017). Finally, newly graduated professionals might be constantly anxious regarding consequences that they might be required to face in case they do not perform in line with expectations or patients and their family members are not happy with the kind of support that they receive (Andrews, 2013). This increases workplace stress and becomes a challenge for young professionals who are just out of university and are transitioning into real world workplace (Fitzpatrick & Gripshover, 2016). New graduates also face the challenge of appropriately managing their emotions at the workplace. University level education (including internship) might only provide limited exposure to real-life difficulties that professional nurses face on everyday basis (Skarbek et al, 2015). In actual nursing practice, professionals might have to face a variety of situations where they might not agree with either the patient’s or the physician’s opinion about course of medical action for a particular patient (Windey, 2017). However, they might still have to perform in line with the physician’s orders or the patient’s wishes. For example, a patient in extreme pain might request a nursing professional to end his life (Veerapen & Purkis, 2014). Here, although the professional might feel for the patient, it would not be possible to comply with the patient’s wishes (Brown et al, 2016). In another example, an elderly individual might request the nursing professional to not make any attempts to revive him in case his condition worsens (Pineau Stam et al, 2015). The nursing professional however would have to comply with his wishes without personally agreeing with the individual’s choice. Alternately, professionals in certain circumstances might find themselves getting emotionally influenced by a patient’s story (O’Rae et al, 2016). Appropriate management of emotions in these circumstances would require keeping the relationship extremely professional in nature and concluding the same as soon as they stop being in-charge of that particular patient’s care (Dowling & Melillo, 2015). It is essential to note here that apt emotional management in a healthcare environment requires significant professional experience. Since new graduates are often expected to aptly manage their emotions right from the very beginning, it might become a significant challenge for them (Skarbek et al, 2015). Lack of access to experienced mentors might also be recognised as a major challenge that newly graduated professionals encounter while transitioning to a workplace environment (Thomas et al, 2015). In accordance with research literature, the healthcare industry in Australia has been witnessing  significant portion of its experienced professionals depart owing to retirements, declining resources, constantly increasing workload and lack of growth opportunities at their workplace (Fitzpatrick & Gripshover, 2016). Experienced professionals who are currently a part of the workforce are often extremely occupied with their own responsibilities (MacLean et al, 2016). This provides new graduates with extremely limited opportunities to approach experienced professionals and seek help or advice (O’Rae et al, 2016). Further, it has been noticed that management officials or employers often expect new graduates to work at par with experienced professionals thereby making it difficult for them to adjust. Also despite their intension to help new graduates and orient them properly to the workplace, experienced professionals might not find the required time to do so (Andrews, 2013). Lack of availability of experienced professionals forces new graduates to undertake independent decision making and increases chances of errors. Since this happens in the wake of full realisation that they are completely accountable for their decision making, it serves to breed fear and stress thereby becoming a major challenge for new graduates (Windey, 2017). In addition to the fact that new graduates are expected to work at par with experienced professionals and accept full responsibility and accountability of their actions they might also face workplace bullying issues or horizontal violence (Brown et al, 2016). Statistics indicate that the incidents of workplace violence have been constantly increasing in the healthcare industry. New graduates are especially vulnerable to violence either from patients or from their co-workers (Pineau Stam et al, 2015). It has been reported that patients who are attended to by newly graduated nursing professionals might tend to feel that they are not important enough to be referred to an experienced professional (Skarbek et al, 2015). Alternately, new graduates might experience some difficulties in establishing a rapport with patients and this in turn might make patients feel irritated thereby sparking a violent behaviour. Newly graduated professionals are also more vulnerable to slips, falls and workplace injuries (Thomas et al, 2015). Senior or experienced professionals at the workplace might also exhibit violent behaviour so as to maintain control of their workplace (Dowling & Melillo, 2015). This tends to prevent new graduates from socialising at their workplace and heightens their tensions (Andrews, 2013). Organisations which do not have stringent policies in place to protect their workforce from bullying silently promote unprofessional behaviour and often prove to be extremely challenging for new graduates who understand the accountability of their actions but are unable to take the amount of resistance they might be faced with at their workplace (Veerapen & Purkis, 2014). Expanding on the aspect of unprofessional behaviour and unrealistic expectations, it has also been noticed that a few healthcare settings make it difficult for new graduates to adjust (MacLean et al, 2016). This might be attributed to their overly stringent practices that are followed. New professionals might be constantly monitored for their behaviour at the workplace and might also be criticised for the same (Fitzpatrick & Gripshover, 2016). They might also be constantly compared with other professionals thereby demeaning them and hurting their morale (Babenko-Mould & Elliot, 2015). Research indicates that professionals caught up in such workplaces often find it difficult to continue at the workplace and sometimes quit their profession completely. Others become increasingly demoralised and might fall prey to depression and anxiety issues (Dowling & Melillo, 2015). Finally, ego clashes present a significant workplace challenge for newly graduation professionals. It has been observed that nursing students are extremely meticulous in their studies and are habitual of following standards and guidelines that have been presented to them (Windey, 2017). They however encounter a different mindset when they enter a real-life workplace (Brown et al, 2016). For example, a newly graduated professional might religiously believe in the importance of waste disposal and the presence of separate bins for the same. In her workplace however, she might witness that standard guidelines are not being followed and might even request her seniors to comply with guidelines (Andrews, 2013). This might in turn create an ego clash and her seniors might dismiss her concerns by saying that they have been working there for a very long time and they know better (Fitzpatrick & Gripshover, 2016). This might hurt the morale of new graduates thereby making them dislike their place of work from very beginning (O’Rae et al, 2016). Alternately, new graduates might also face a challenge while tending to patients with the help of standard measures defined in their text books and theoretical curriculums (Pineau Stam et al, 2015). New graduates might take time to realise that care needs of every patient are unique and they need to be addressed in a unique manner. This in some cases might require out of the box thinking and innovating new strategies thereby challenge both professional knowledge and adaptability of new graduates (Skarbek et al, 2015). Looking at the above discussion, it might be concluded that owing to an increased pressure to operate in an efficient and lean manner, graduating nursing professionals are expected to be work-ready as soon as they enter their workplace. Although creative measures are in place so as to ensure that the transition from education to workplace is smooth, newly graduating professionals experience a variety of challenges. Knowing that they are completely accountable for their decision making in the workplace, they work under constant performance anxiety and fear of performing outside their scope of practice. Further, complexity of patients that they encounter along with the daunting aspect of managing their co-morbidities might further increase their challenges. New graduates might also find it difficult to access experienced professionals for help and support and might also be bullied at their workplace. Finally, challenges faced by new graduates might also increasing in complexity owing to management expectations of performing at par with experienced professionals and ego clashes which might crop up at the workplace. Challenged professionals are often de-motivated and prone to depression. They might also find it extremely difficult to continue working in their profession thereby causing a significant loss to the healthcare system. It is therefore necessary to introduce creative strategies for ensuring that professionals are able to adjust well at their workplace and the number of challenges that they face are minimised.   References Andrews, D. R. (2013). Expectations of millennial nurse graduates transitioning into practice. Nursing administration quarterly, 37(2), 152-159 Babenko-Mould, Y., & Elliott, J. (2015). 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