Role Transition of Recent Nurse Graduates Into Practice in Long‐Term Care and Home and Community Care Sectors: A Scoping Review

Aim To explore transition experiences of newly graduated nurses transitioning into long‐term care and home and community care. Design Scoping Review. Methods Joanna Briggs Institute framework and Arksey & O'Malley's principles for scoping reviews were used. Covidence facilitated evidence selection. Two independent reviewers screened and extracted data, with a third resolving disputes. NVivo 14.0 supported data analysis, and thematic analysis highlighted transition experiences. Data Sources Data retrieved from Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, Google Scholar and Google for published and grey literature; searched February 2026. Results From 27 articles, analysis revealed four themes: (1) A Different World: Contextual Challenges in Long‐Term Care and Home and Community Care Sectors, (2) Navigating as a New Graduate Nurse: Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviours, (3) Support and Guidance, (4) Emergence of Professional Self as a Nurse in Long‐Term Care and Home and Community Care. Conclusion This review emphasized the need for addressing clinical and emotional aspects of transition, including proper orientation, tailored nurse residency programs, and workload management for facilitating integration and supporting development of nurses' professional identity. Implications for the Profession and/or Patient Care This review may guide healthcare leaders in refining support systems for new nurses, ultimately elevating patient care standards in these sectors. Impact Addressing challenges new nurses face when assimilating into long‐term care and home and community care environments may enhance nurse confidence, job satisfaction, recruitment, and retention. Reporting Method The EQUATOR guidelines for PRISMA‐ScR. Patient or Public Contribution No patient or public contribution. Protocol Registration https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/YD4GB , https://osf.io/gjdfz