Work ready? An explorative study of nurse managers’ perspective on the work readiness of new graduate nurses from two different educational trajectories

Abstract Background In high-pressure healthcare environments, nurse managers face challenges in ensuring adequate staffing, necessitating that new graduate nurses be ready to work immediately. However, the gap between generalized nursing education and the specialized wards where new graduate nurses are expected to be work-ready may pose additional challenges. Methods and Results This study aims to explore the aspects of new graduate nurses’ work readiness that are pertinent to nurse managers in highly specialized wards, both generally and within a newly introduced educational trajectory. A questionnaire was developed based on focus group interviews with nurse managers, and descriptive results show that the majority of nurse managers consider new graduate nurses to be work ready on most of the parameters they find important although nurse managers need them to quickly learn to prioritize their tasks and are challenged by new graduate nurses’ vulnerability and them bringing their personal life to work. Conclusions The study concludes that the challenges nurse managers perceive in general is likely caused by the work environment rather than the work readiness of new graduate nurses, but their positive initial reactions to the new educational trajectory may present possibilities for aligning needs and work readiness in the future.