A Study of the Interplay between New Graduate Life Experience, Context, and the Experience of Stress in the Workplace: Exploring Factors towards Self-Actualizing as a Novice Nurse

Prolonged levels of stress and feelings of insecurity in new graduate registered nurse work environments are an expected part of the transition experience, yet we continue to see high rates of emotional exhaustion leading to burnout. There is a significant amount of literature on the sources of new graduate stress. However, research is lacking regarding what makes one nurse more vulnerable than another within similar work environments. This qualitative study explored the interplay of life experiences that enable and disable eight new graduate nurses from engaging in the process of self-actualization or thriving. Three prominent themes emerged as significant factors that influence the new graduates’ ability to engage in self-actualization. Developmental factors were significant in the capacity to manage workplace stressors and included congruence from their childhood experience or time in their young adult life where they engaged in relationships that provided unconditional positive regard, the habitual practice of self-compassion, and the ability to resolve areas of moral and ethical dissonance. Biological factors also buffered the experience of stress in the field, which included age and having a personality suited to their nursing role. Finally, contextual factors included having a trusted mentor at work, feelings of meaning and purpose within another life role, threats of emotional and physical violence in the workplace, workloads that took novice inefficiencies into account, limiting redeployment, and work schedules that allowed for adequate rest between sets. These insights inform nursing curriculum and transition programs by deepening the understanding of the interplay between previous and current contexts and the experience of stressors that are endemic in the workplace