Study finds workforce readiness gap in new nurses

Editor's Note

A study published March 30 in Nurse Education in Practice found that the majority of nurses with less than 2 years of work experience are uncomfortable performing more complex procedures independently.

Conducted by Singapore General Hospital, Sengkang General Hospital, and Singapore Institute of Technology, the study aimed to determine the workforce-readiness of new nursing graduates. Researchers surveyed more than 450 nurses between November and December 2022 who had joined healthcare institutions within 2 years of graduation. Findings include:

• More than 40% of nurses felt overwhelmed by ethical issues related to patient care.
• 37%  experienced difficulties managing a patient who was dying.
• Around 60% expressed discomfort around performing more complex procedures, such as supporting a critical clinical emergency, performing tracheostomy care and suctioning, and performing chest tube care without assistance.
• 26% reported managing the needs of multiple patients is challenging.
• More than 20% expressed difficulty with adapting to new technology.

The findings suggest that new nurses may need additional supervision for complex procedures, and that they could benefit from extra residency and clinical practice prior to joining the workforce, researchers write.