Describe your acculturation experience as a new graduate to the culture of the nursing profession. How is it similar or different from the acculturation experience of a travel nurse who joined your team?
janvier-sonson95
peeranswers.docxFinance Joseph
St. Thomas University
NUR-421-AP3
Professor Price
10/21/2021
Due to the nature of the nursing profession, most nurses find the work environment very stressful and far from what they expected when they enrolled to study as nurses. Nurses require a lot of support to transition from their school environment and adapt to the workplace's demanding environment. Acculturation is very important as it allows the new graduate nurses to slowly internalize the new norms and values of a professional culture. However, different people have different acculturation experiences; some easily adapt while others have the worst experience in adapting and, therefore, even resign from their jobs.
New graduate nurses are faced with a lot of challenges. My experience during this transition from a student to a professional nurse was not as easy as it took me some time to fully adapt to the new environment and new roles. As much as I was happy to be finally doing what I wanted to do, there was the aspect of fear and anxiety. Every other nurse faces the main challenge of managing to bring the theory learned into real practice (Walton et al., 2018). This can be stressful and calls for good support to pull through. Time management was the main challenge that I was faced with. As a new nurse, the duties were so overwhelming and called for proper management of time.
Dealing with many patients who have different needs and expectations and come from different cultural backgrounds was also a challenge. Even though I was able to communicate well with nurses, the expectations were so overwhelming. Working collaboratively with other team members was also a challenge because of was uncertain about so many things. Sometimes it feels like the knowledge acquired in school is not enough; decision-making also became a problem. Also, events that came unexpectedly were a challenge since, due to the urgency, I did not know how to handle them. Unfortunately, I had to learn without access to any mentors and coaches.
My experience, I can say, is a bit different from that of the new colleagues who have joined my team. Having gone through all those challenges and luckily pulled through, I would not watch it happen to any other person. Mentorship and coaching are very important for new graduates getting into the profession (Irwin et al., 2021). As senior staff, I have always known that I have a role in ensuring that new graduates get the right support. For any new graduate joining my team, I have ensured that they worked closely with those of us who are experienced to gain the confidence that they require in the profession. This preceptor program has been helpful to them and has guided them in their learning process.
I have also ensured that they have a supportive environment to ensure that they transit successfully. This has been through good communication with them, having it in mind that they are even afraid of working collaboratively with other colleagues. I have further ensured that they have lighter duties as they also learn how to handle heavier ones, and this also ensures that they have an easier time as beginners.
References
Irwin, K. M., Saathoff, A., Janz, D. A., & Long, C. (2021). Resiliency program for new graduate nurses. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 37(1), 35-39.
Walton, J. A., Lindsay, N., Hales, C., & Rook, H. (2018). Glimpses into the transition world: New graduate nurses' written reflections. Nurse Education Today, 60, 62-66.
Oct 20 at 8:50pm
St. Thomas University Yanetsy M Gonzalez 1
Acculturation Experience
Yanetsy M Gonzalez
St. Thomas University
NUR-421-AP3
NURSING PRACT IN MLTCLT SOC
Professor Price
October 20, 2021
Acculturation Experience
Due to the different cultures in the different parts of the world, nurses have to deal with differing cultures. The nursing profession is diversified with diversity in the student population and the nursing profession. When nursing students transition into professional settings and into being nurses, they are required to adapt to the role, environment, identity, and responsibility changes. Their professional environment requires authenticity and care for patients, and they have to transition and adapt to this environment. Due to the transition, many nursing graduates face various challenges in their first year of practice (Della Ratta, 2016) after their graduation. The challenges may impact them psychologically and impact their perseverance. Many fresh graduate nurses are faced with unpreparedness, uncertainty, and inadequacy in conjunction with fear of negative judgment by colleagues who are more experienced.
As a new graduate, I faced unpreparedness and inadequacy in the process of transitioning to professional roles. There was a gap between my training and the expected clinical practice. I experienced functional defects in accuracy and speed range. Unlike the travel nurse who joined our team and was experienced in the nursing profession and roles, I was incompetent in skills that involved specialized nursing procedures and advanced nursing skills. Such defects were a result of inadequate opportunities to gain experience and perform nursing actions during my training. Work experience by the majority of fresh graduates at the beginning of their roles causes much stress (Hussein et al., 2017) for both the fresh graduate and the healthcare team. My unpreparedness was due to the lack of the vital functional skills to work in a professional nursing environment, and it caused me stress. Due to a lack of realization on the importance of preparedness in new role tasks, I struggled with inadequacy that I later overcame with experience.
Besides, I was faced with uncertainty due to the overwhelming nature of work. I lacked firmness in unexpected situations. There was the pressure to transition from a school environment to a professional environment with extensive roles and nursing responsibilities for patients. The travel nurse on our team, who was experienced, acted as a role model by providing advice and support that played an essential role in helping me interpret challenging situations. Certainty plays a crucial role in the nursing profession. There is a need for certainty to ensure patient safety and appropriate care. Lack of better preparation and the critical situation at the workplace made me question my ability as a nurse leading to stressful experiences. However, with experience in clinical practice, I overcame uncertainty.
I faced difficulties due to the fear of negative judgment by colleagues who were more experienced. This fear resulted in deficiencies related to communication. I was unable to communicate and form a connection with colleagues and other healthcare team members. Unlike the travel nurse in our team, I lacked confidence due to my perceived incompetence. The lack of adequate required skills in the workplace and the workplace conditions instilled fear and stress that caused communicative problems and poor relations with colleagues. Fear of negative judgment caused stress and challenges during the beginning of my nursing practice, but with effective adjustments, I was able to adapt and form better relationships with my colleagues.
Understanding the different transcultural nursing concepts is crucial during the transition from a graduate student to a nursing professional. During the first experience as new nursing professionals, individuals experience unpreparedness, inadequacy, uncertainty, and fear of negative criticism from colleagues. Due to the change in roles and environment, nurse graduates experience significant stress and acculturation issues that compound that stress. However, with time and experience, fresh graduates overcome acculturation issues and become competent.
References
Della Ratta, C. (2016). Challenging graduate nurses’ transition: Care of the deteriorating patient. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 25(19-20), 3036–3048. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.13358
Hussein, R., Everett, B., Ramjan, L. M., Hu, W., & Salamonson, Y. (2017). New graduate nurses’ experiences in a clinical specialty: a follow up study of newcomer perceptions of transitional support. BMC Nursing, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-017-0236-0
