Transitioning Into Mental Health Nursing: A Scoping Review

Transitioning to mental health nursing can be stressful for nurses new to the specialty, who need to develop relevant knowledge and skills to provide evidence-based care and psychosocial interventions to people experiencing mental distress. Nurses may feel overwhelmed and under-supported in their transition role, with potential for low retention. A scoping review was conducted with the aim to explore and synthesise evidence on transitioning nurses' career choice, experiences and psychosocial and work-related outcomes in the first 2 years of mental health practice and identify gaps in knowledge for future research. The systematic search process resulted in 17 empirical articles from eight countries, with a total sample of n = 436 transition nurses. Career choice influences included prior experience with mental health and wanting to reduce stigma and make a difference to care. Nurses initially experienced the shock of transitioning and grappled with the realities of the work, with most adjusting to their roles over time. Overall, there was high retention (88.3%-97.1%), low turnover intention and moderate-high work/job satisfaction, moderate levels of perceived stress and moderate-high wellbeing, resilience and coping self-efficacy. Gaps in knowledge for further research include longitudinal cohort studies investigating wellbeing and work-related outcomes. Evaluation research is needed on effective multi-level initiatives to enhance transition nurses' wellbeing, resilience and workplace belonging, reduce stigma, build professional identity and strengthen their nursing knowledge, confidence and skills. Recommendations include placing nurses in lower acuity settings early in transition, continued efforts to reduce workplace violence, trauma-informed self-care, and provision of structured transition programs and clinical supervision.