Exploring the Experience of New Graduate Nurses in Saudi Arabia During Orientation Program

Exploring the experience of new graduate nurses in Saudi Arabia during orientation program

(Research Proposal)

Name:

Course:

Institution:

Prof:

Date:

Table of Contents

1.0. Introduction 3

1.1. Background of the study 3

1.2. Statement of the problem 3

1.3. Significance of the study 4

1.4. Research design 4

1.5. Research aim 5

1.6. Objectives of the study 5

1.7. Research questions 5

1.8. Limitations of the study 6

2.0. Literature review 6

3.0. Methodology 11

3.1. Research setting 11

3.2. Study population and sample 11

3.3. Inclusion criteria 12

3.4. Data sources 12

3.5. Data collection process and instrument 13

3.6. Ethical considerations 14

3.7. Validity 14

3.8. Reliability 15

3.9. Data analysis 15

3.10. Schedule 16

4.0. References 18

1.0. Introduction

1.1. Background of the study

Graduate nurses transiting from educational background to clinical setup where they are expected to be directly involved in provision of health care go through a great deal of stress and reality shock. As shortages in nursing workforce become a reality, the importance of graduate nurses in strategies aimed at recruitment and staffing of health institutions cannot be ignored (Doelling et al., 2010). Furthermore, research shows that graduate nurse turnover remains high. It is also worrying to note that almost half of the graduate nurses who start the transition journey are willing to change their position after two years. It is even more challenging to note that most of the nurses in this group are younger than 25 years. Stullenbarger et al. (2011) point out that this trend significantly affects hospitals since the 2-year period is the time most hospitals developed new leaders. The high turnover has also been associated with high cost in the provision of acute care because the cost of orientation and replacement becomes recurrent.

1.2. Statement of the problem

Challenges experienced by graduate nurses in their transition to registered or professional nurses have been studied and published since 1970s. However, there has been an increase in the need to examine the perceptions of these nurses in the early stages of professional practice due to concerns about their retention. Additionally, only limited literature is available about graduate nurses’ feelings and perceptions about the way they are oriented to the experienced nursing practice. Research studies focusing on this topic have majorly concentrated on the experiences and challenges facing implementation of transition programs, with only a few of them being focused on how the programs can be improved to support the graduate nurses in a better way (Johnstone et al., 2008). Moreover, there is scarcity in the available literature about experiences of graduate nurses in Saudi Arabia as they shift from being graduates to registered nurses. Among the few studies exploring how to make the transition easier, the number discussion the role of orientation towards achievement of this goal is insignificant.

1.3. Significance of the study

The proposed study is expected to have an immense value to graduate nurses transitioning into registered nurses, registered nurses acting as preceptors in various health organizations and health organizations in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world. Graduate nurses are expected to have almost the same experiences are they get oriented into professional nursing. This happens regardless of the geographical location of their organization, with only a few differences being experiences across various locations. Similarity in the environment in which graduate and registered nurses are expected to work in allows generalization of the obtained results to various health organizations across the world. Health organizations can use the results obtained from the proposed study to understand the difficulties experienced by new graduate nurses and how support programs can be used to smoothen their orientation into professional nurses. Improvements in orientation programs are in turn expected to lead to an increase in the level of satisfaction and performance of fresh graduate nurses.

1.4. Research design

Since the aim of the researcher will be to explore graduate nurses’ experiences and how the orientation programs meet their needs, the research will employ a quantitative research design. It is also proposed that the researcher will rely on feedback and comments from the selected participants as opposed to conducting an experiment. The study will be longitudinal since the same participants will complete the survey over a certain period of time. The responses provided by the participants will be used by the researcher when making conclusions on the experiences of these nurses, making the study retrospective.

1.5. Research aim

The aim of the proposed study is to explore experiences of graduate nurses Saudi Arabia’s northern region and how orientation programs meet their needs.

1.6. Objectives of the study

To achieve the above aim, the objectives of the study will be:

1. To determine various forms of experiences of graduate nurses in northern region of Saudi Arabia.

2. To investigate the role of orientation programs in the transition from a graduate nurse to a registered nurse in the northern region of Saudi Arabia.

3. To investigate how orientation programs for graduate nurses in the northern region of Saudi Arabia can be improved to meet the graduates’ needs.