Student Transition

[eaglenurse]

I would like to know the problems of transition from a student role to a professional role in nursing(RN.)

[truern]

A.How long have you been practicing as a Registered Nurse?

B.Describe a typical day in your current practice.

C. Where do you see yourself along this continuum:

Novice, Advanced Beginner, Competent, Proficient and Expert.

1. Novice: no background understanding of situation exists. Context free rules & attributes are required for safe performance at this level. Example is a first year nursing student.

2. Advanced Beginner: has enough experience to grasp aspects of (but not attributes) and recurrent meaningful components of the situation. Demonstrates marginally acceptable performance. Example is a newly graduated nursing student.

3. Competent: Able to determine which aspects of situations are important and which can be ignored. Demonstrates conscious and deliberate planning with an increased level of efficiency. An expert judge is needed to ascribe this level.

4. Proficient: Qualitative leap beyond competent. Able to perceive the situation as a whole, performance is guided by principals and rules of conduct. Nurse recognizes salient conditions and has an intuitive grasp of situation based on understanding.

An expert judge is needed to ascribe this level.

5. Expert: Nurse no longer relies on analytic rules, guidelines or principles. Able to focus on the accurate region of the problem of the situation because judgment is based on understanding of paradigms. Effectiveness of practice not hindered by any wasted regard of alternative diagnosis or solutions. An expert judge is needed to ascribe this level.

· “Performance level can be determined only by consensual validation of expert judges and an assessment of the outcomes of the situation” (Benner, 1984).

D.Describe a scenario from your practice that would demonstrate this level of your practice.

[christvs, DNP, RN, NP]

I would like to know the problems of transition from a student role to a professional role in nursing(RN.)

I think the hardest thing to overcome is your confidence level or lack of. In my opinion that is. It was really hard and weird at first to not have a clinical instructor to go to every time I needed something. Of course as a new LPN or new RN you have your preceptor to go to and once you're off orientation there is the charge nurse and other more experienced nurses to go to for help and advice. So that is what I think about to make myself not feel scared. I've been an RN for 7 months now & I feel a lot more comfortable with everything, but when I don't know something I ask the more experienced nurses what they think. The other hard part about transitioning from student to nurse is simply remembering that YOU are now the nurse and that pts. are really looking at you to explain things to them and are looking for your input. That was scary to take at first, but again, I think after some practice, your confidence level improves. It did for me. :)

[wonderbee, BSN, RN]

It's exhausing. I'm into my third week of a 10 week orientation. The first four weeks are classroom based. It's school but the stakes are higher and the lecture time is longer. The info comes at us in massive doses. There is homework and final exams. On the bright side, at least I get paid for it! I still feel very much like a nursing student.