With a diploma in hand and a new credential after their name, new nurses enter the hospital workforce and quickly find themselves frustrated and burned out by the effects of the nursing shortage, long hours and constant turnover in departments.
Researchers at the Gainesville-based University of Florida College of Nursing, seeking ways to mitigate these challenges — which only put more stress on the fragile nursing workforce — found that providing new nurses with residency programs, opportunities to be mentored and "widespread changes to workplace culture" may help keep new nurses on the job, according to a June 6 UF College of Nursing news release.
"By building a network of senior nurses and creating mental health support programs for new graduates, health systems can support the transition to clinical practice and improve the likelihood that they remain in their first nursing role for an extended period of time," the release said.
UF Health offers a new nurse residency program and encourages graduates to speak up and share their ideas about "how best to manage nurse-to-patient ratios, working to ensure both a safe workload and work environment for nurses caring for patients at the bedside."
Additionally, at UF College of Nursing’s Academic Practice Unit at UF Health Jacksonville (Fla.), nursing students can work directly with experienced staff nurses to forge mentoring relationships while they are still training.