Dr. Irma Garriga (FNU)

The Lived Experiences of New Graduate Nurses in a Residency Program in Miami, Florida

Background:  The process of transitioning from training into the crucial role of a key medical professional is often daunting for New Graduate Registered Nurses (NGRNs).  Increased NGRNs attrition rates may occur without further knowledge about how these new nurses experience their transition into practice. 

Purpose:  The purpose of this phenomenological, hermeneutic research was to explore the lived experiences of New Graduate Registered Nurses (NGRNs) working in medical surgical units in Miami, Florida while completing a new graduate nurse residency program. 

Philosophical Underpinning:  A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used in this study.

Methods:  Purposive and snowball sampling were used.  Data analysis was guided by Max van Manen’s (2016) hermeneutical approach.

Results:  Three emergent themes were identified as communication, nurse residency structure, and confidence.

Conclusion:  NGRNs (n = 17) emphasized that having the proper communication with their leaders, nurse residency program structures, and gaining confidence as components that needed to be developed.