Valuing Professional Pride and Compensating for Lack of Experience

Newly educated nurses’ meeting with working life probably constitutes the most demanding period of their entire working career. This study aims to shed light on what leaders and colleagues can do to ensure newly educated nurses’ competency and retention. The design of this study uses a phenomenological approach with narrative interviews and text analysis. The results show that the newly educated nurse needs leaders and colleagues who take the right initiative with regard to receiving and incepting. They need help to clarify their professional role and to confirm their professional pride and commitment. Showing trust, providing competence time, and supporting the newly educated nurse’s initiative to increase his/her competence are all of vital importance during this period. The new generation nurses actively seek knowledge and generally possess good computer skills. They can therefore represent a major resource for the working environment. In exchange the newly educated nurse needs leaders and colleagues to share their experience with them and help them to develop professional standards. Leaders who encourage this exchange of experience and who make use of these differences in competence can create a sustainable nursing staff, and this will in turn promote recruitment and nurse retention.