I’m Worried About…
You might be nervous, you might be excited or it might be a combination of both. You are not alone; many of our research participants described mixed feelings towards the transition.
Being worried about certain aspects of the role is not uncommon; our research participants reported being concerned about coping and the increased level of responsibility or fitting in with the team and being in a new environment.
These anxieties are really common and most people feel like this – it’s the start of your long and rewarding career in nursing.
Remember your first job won’t be your last job and use your experience as a learning opportunity.
What’s It Really Like Being A Newly Registered Nurse (NRN)?
In the months before you start your first role as a registered nurse you might find yourself wondering what it’s really like.
You’re likely to have some expectations based on your placement experiences as a student nurse.
Something we found during our research was that Newly Registered Nurses had high expectations of themselves but they also perceived that others, especially colleagues and patients’ families, had high expectations of them.
Just remember that your expectations won’t always match the reality both for the better and the worst.
As part of the STaR project we collated advice from a range of sources including Newly Registered Nurses, clinical manager and preceptors and academics.
View the advice for Newly Registered Nurses here.
Some of the best people to tell you what it’s like being a Newly Registered Nurse are new nurses themselves. Have a read of the stories of five Newly Registered Nurses on the Health Education England Website to get a sense of what being a Newly Registered Nurse is really like.
And of course, there are plenty of stories and videos here too.
Chloe - Mental Health Nurse has created 3 videos on the topic of newly registered nursing:
● The Challenges I Faced As A Newly Qualified Nurse
● Easing Yourself Into Newly Qualified Life
● Newly Qualified Nursing Experiences
What Support Will I Need In My First 6 Months As A Newly Registered Nurse?
[Media_c591fe2d-d1db-4656-868c-4c2440a706aa]It is likely that you will need some support during the early months of your first post as a Newly Registered Nurse but everyone differs as to how much support they need and the type of support they need.
You might feel like you need quite a lot of support and that’s fine or you might only need a little bit of support which is also fine.
Our research participants told us that emotional support was really important such as the need for reassurance that they weren’t doing anything wrong and feedback about how they could improve.
Our participants also valued peer support because it helped them to recognise that they were not alone in their experiences and that ‘it’s not just you’.
It may be that there is formal support offered within your workplace but did you know that social media is also a great way to build your networks and connect with others.
Twitter in particular has some useful groups for Newly Registered Nurses for example: @NQ_Forum Newly Qualified Forum; @WeNurses and the 'We Communities'; @RCNNRN RCN Newly Registered Nurses.
What Is Preceptorship?
As a NRN one of your biggest worries may be that you will make a mistake. Your preceptor and colleagues are there to support your development and ensure that you are practicing safely and working confidently within the limits of your competence.
I was talking to one group of students and they were telling me what they liked about their preceptorship and they don’t like it when it is just like competencies, they think that’s important…they do but they said it is just really lovely to have someone to talk to in a safe space and to encourage and support them through that time…that is what they really value….someone who cares about you and takes an interest in you (STaR Research Participant, HEI Leader)
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) defines a preceptorship as 'a period to guide and support all newly qualified practitioners to make the transition from student to develop their practice further'. This preceptorship framework should answer many of your preceptorship questions and includes a role descriptor for a preceptor; a charter between the preceptor and the preceptee and meeting templates that you can use to record formal review meetings.
Closer to home, here on Nurses.co.uk Chloe explains what preceptorship is and how it helps Newly Registered Nurses in one of her videos.
Plus, Adult Nurse, Ruth Underdown, outlines what you should expect from preceptorship.
What If I Don’t Like My First Post?
Your first registered nurse job is unlikely to be your last and it’s not uncommon for Newly Registered Nurses to leave their first post within 12 months of starting.
In her blog ‘Should I stay or go?’ Dr Jane Wray discusses the varied reasons that Newly Registered Nurses leave their job within the first twelve months.
If you’re thinking of moving on from your first post you might want to have a look at all of the articles on this site (Nurses.co.uk). Most of them are by the nurses who do the job and will help you to understand the wide variety of opportunities within health and care, inspire you, and also shine a light on roles you may have never heard of. There are 1,000s of articles including advice on a whole range of clinical roles; working in the private sector, changing nursing fields, leadership, career progression and pay. There’s also a courses section where you can build new skills.
Considering A Career In Nursing?
"I think what pushed me to make the decision really towards nursing rather than any other profession was the way that I saw my nan cared for when she had cancer." STaR Research Participant, NRN
For those of you reading this article who haven’t yet started your nursing education we thought we’d end on some information that will help inspire you to become a nurse and get you started.
Are you thinking about a career in nursing?
Wondering if it’s for you?
Or if people like you go into Nursing?
People we interviewed for our study came from a wide range of ages and backgrounds when they began nursing.
The reasons they went into nursing varied.
Some people wanted to be a nurse from a young age; some people had worked in care in non-nursing roles for many years for example, in a care home; some talked about specific experiences that had led them to embark on a career in nursing such as seeing a relative cared for and wanting to ‘do more’ or ‘wanting to make a difference’.
For other people, the decision to become a nurse was pragmatic, with changes in circumstances such as redundancy from a previous occupation or embarking on a new direction after their children had grown and flown.
Nurses.co.uk has hundreds of articles and videos by nurses on what inspired them to become a nurse. For the nuts and bolts information you will find our Complete Guide To Becoming A Nurse simple to follow. This guide will take you through your study options and the qualifications you will need to get onto a nursing course. There’s also a really useful course finder article that has everything in one place: listing all the Universities where you can study nursing, showing which branch of nursing is offered, and includes a list of tips for anyone considering studying to become a nurse.
We know that not everyone goes into nursing straight from school and college at 18. Sometimes people have other careers before they decide to go into nursing.
The people who took part in our study who decided to enter nursing ‘later in life’ had worked in many previous occupations including in a supermarket, in the brewery sector, in telesales and as a chef.
If this sounds like you and you’re thinking of changing your career to become a nurse you might want to read the blog by Ruth
About this contributor
Post-Doctoral Research Assistant
I’m a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Hull. I joined the University as a Research Assistant in 2005 after completing a Master’s Degree in Social Research. I left to undertake my PhD in 2008 and returned as a researcher in 2014. I have extensive research experience on projects linked to health and social care.
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