Employers’ perceptions of new graduate registered nurses’ preparedness to work in primary health care

New graduate registered nurses are prepared for practice in primary health care and could be a relatively untapped resource to address the issue of the ageing workforce in primary health care and fulfil the vision of increasing the opportunities for nurses and nursing in the community. This quantitative non experimental descriptive study has explored employers’ perceptions of new graduate registered nurses’ preparedness to work in primary health care. The study also examined the primary health care workplace readiness for new graduate registered nurses. The participants surveyed within this study were director of nurses, nurse managers and nurse leaders working in primary health care who currently employed new graduate registered nurses into the workforce. This study has revealed that new graduates employed by participants of this research were work ready in a number of key primary health care nursing areas of practice. Chronic illness care, family health and child health were identified as areas where new graduates were not well prepared for practice. Participants placed high value on socialisation for new graduates into the workforce. Participants identified a supportive primary health care workplace in guiding new graduates to transition into primary health care. However, constraints of time, funding and support required are identified as barriers to the employment of new graduates. Finally, an anecdotal historical belief that new graduate registered nurses need to spend time in the acute hospital setting before entering primary health care has been found within this study to no longer have the significance it once did within the primary health care nursing workforce. The limitations of this study are the small sample size and therefore an inability to generalise the findings to the wider primary health care workforce. Further research is required to explore the perceptions of new graduates on their preparedness to work in primary health care and, examine how socialisation to the nursing culture and workforce is taught within the Bachelor of Nursing undergraduate nursing curriculum.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Health Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Eastern Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Domigan, Jessica

• New Zealand
• employer perceptions
• registered nurses
• new graduates
• primary health care
• work readiness
• workplaces
• socialisation
• nursing curriculum
• surveys

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10652/6356

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10652/6356