Exploring the transition experiences of recently qualified health visitors to understand their support needs and future career aspirations: an interpretative description study.

To explore the transition experiences of recently qualified health visitors to understand their support needs and future career aspirations. Recently qualified health visitors, nurses who have completed post-graduate training to become health visitors, are vital to ensure robust and sustainable health visiting services. Nevertheless, little is known about their transition experiences, the support they require as they transition from nursing into health visiting, and their future career aspirations. Universal health visiting services are well-placed to support the health and well-being of children and their families from pre-birth to preschool. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a rise internationally in children with developmental delay concerns, with an increased demand for health visiting services to help mitigate this impact. However, health visiting services are stretched with an ageing population and staffing shortages. An interpretative description design was adopted using individual qualitative interviews to understand the transition experiences of recently qualified health visitors. Ten participants were recruited from an NHS Board in Scotland, using purposive sampling. Ethical approval was gained from the university ethics panel and the NHS Research and Development department. Reflexive thematic analysis was utilised to determine the patterns and meanings within the dataset. The study identified two factors that significantly impacted the transition experiences of the participants: continuity and the construction of a new professional identity. Continuity in the relationships with children and families related to how caseloads were allocated and the impact of the universal pathway level the participants were working on. Furthermore, relational continuity was found to be vital in both formal and informal support. However, this study found the participants experienced variability in their access to and the availability of this support. The construction of a new professional identity proved challenging for participants in determining their physical appearance and developing a narrative to explain their health visiting role to families. Also, the unanticipated level of responsibility from the health visiting role was found to have negatively impacted the well-being of some of the participants. Nonetheless, the future career aspirations of most of the participants were to consolidate their health visiting skills and progress to roles within the health visiting service. These findings support the addition of five components to the existing Fisher's (2012) Process of Transition, forming a bridge over the curve of emotions. The five components of formal organisational support, informal, impromptu support, construction of professional identity, stability and partnership in decision-making, and compassionate leadership are underpinned by relational continuity. These components were found to help reduce the curve of emotions the participants in this study experienced during their transition from nursing to health visiting. A key recommendation is a transition plan for recently qualified health visitors to support and facilitate their transition.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Robert Gordon University

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Nice, Fran

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• C. Kennedy and E. MacIver

• info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/COVID-19
• Health visitors
• Recently qualified practitioners
• Transition experiences
• Professional identity
• Support continuity
• COVID-19 impact
• COVID-19

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

oai:rgu-repository.worktribe.com:3210269
https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-3210269

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:rgu-repository.worktribe.com:3210269