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

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.

Automated summary

Most strategies identified in the study supported graduates in developing across two or more work readiness domains, with structured education and preceptorship being the most common. However, social intelligence was often lacking in the strategies, indicating a gap in addressing all four domains of work readiness for graduate transition-to-practice programs.