Registered Nurses Perceptions of the Transferability of New Graduate Registered Nurses Skills across Healthcare Settings

Abstract

Aims and Objectives: This paper describes Registered Nurses' (RN's) perceptions of the transferability of New Graduate Registered Nurses (NGRN's) skills across settings: one aspect of a larger study exploring RN's perceptions of NGRN's work-readiness. Background: There is evidence RN's do not consider NGRN's as adequately prepared for practice. However, there does not appear to be consensus on what characterizes work-readiness. Methods: An adapted online questionnaire was sent to RNs in a range of clinical settings. They rated NGRNs' skills and the applicability of those skills to their clinical setting using a 5-point Likert scale. Results: Perceptions of transferability of skills across settings varied. In the skills grouping of routine assessment, basic clinical skills, advanced clinical skills the percentage rated as "not applicable" was over 40% in 75% of the skills. The low or zero non-applicable responses to communication skills indicate this skill group contains transferable skills regardless of the setting. The zero non-applicable responses for preparedness for practice for all but two skills indicate these groups contain transferable skills across settings. Conclusion: There appears to be some alignment between expectations from RNs and current NGRN preparation. The lack of transferability of more advanced technical skills raises questions about the role of education in preparing the NGRN versus that of industry-based graduate programmes. The increase in nursing roles and the increased emphasis on aged care and primary health care dictates that generalist preparation of NGRNs emphasising the attributes of an RN should be the focus rather competency in advanced technical skills.