Date of Conferral

5-3-2024

Date of Award

May 2024

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Nursing

Advisor

Mary Martin

Abstract

Every year, thousands of seemingly qualified nursing candidates are unsuccessful at taking the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). Given the ongoing nursing shortage and instability in healthcare personnel created by COVID-19, it is important to ensure that all qualified candidates enter practice promptly. Research related to the lived experience of the graduate nurse is limited. The purpose of this qualitative study was to extend the current understanding of graduate nurses’ experience in graduating from nursing school and preparing to take the NCLEX. This study is a thematic analysis of the graduate nurses’ lived experience as they transition from school to taking the NCLEX. Ten participants engaged in a semistructured interview related to the experience of graduating and preparing for NCLEX. Interviews were transcribed and coded using Schlossberg’s transition theory as a guiding framework. Data were sorted into the categories of self, support, situation, and strategies within the “moving in,” “moving through,” and “moving out” phases of the transitional event. Key themes identified were stress, anxiety, support, and mentorship. Understanding the positive or negative effects of these factors on a candidate can help institutions shape the graduation process to meet candidates’ academic and nonacademic needs so that qualified candidates have all the tools they need to succeed. The successful transition of nurses through the NCLEX process is important given the ongoing nursing shortage and the instability within nursing created by the pandemic. Reducing the number of delays in licensure for registered nurses positively impacts patients, their families, and society since nurses comprise the largest number of health care providers in the United States.

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