Nursing Competencies Needed for Real World Practice

Role Transition

The transition from a novice student nurse to being an experienced professional nurse comes with a change of place, perspective, duties, expectations, opportunities, and understanding (Hampton et al., 2021). Students tends to view the role of the nurse through the eyes of academic learning, i.e., the classroom experience where the closest thing to real-world nursing they might have is a simulation in a lab. They have very limited clinical experience. Their knowledge, rather than being experiential, is shaped by theories, textbooks, simulated scenarios instead of real-world practice, and hypothetical situations. It is all part of the necessary process of becoming a nurse—but at the novice entry-level stage, student nurses have very little to no sense of what is in store for them as a professional nurse: the long hours, the alarm fatigue, the risk of burnout, the possibility of workplace violence, the stress of not committing medical errors, and so on. These are all part of the professional nurse’s life. Student nurses are focused, however, on different things—like getting a grasp of the clinical skills needed, gaining a grasp on cultural competence and other nurse competencies that will at least help them make the transition. Students are constantly learning and getting feedback—but in this sense they are somewhat similar to professional nurses, too, who must constantly give and receive feedback and submit to continuous learning.

Still, experienced professional nurses tend to have a more practical or realistic sense of their duties, rather than theoretical. They should be experienced in communication, critical thinking, clinical judgment, and making informed decisions in evidence-based practice (Ilaslan et al., 2023). Experienced nurses often take on leadership or mentorship roles; they can be advocates for patients and new nurses or the wider community, and they may contribute to the policy development process. They understand via practice all the needs of the patient—i.e., the physical needs and emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of health care—because they have been through the process so many times. They also know the benefits of collaboration.

Going from novice to experienced nurse is a process in which education is the first and biggest factor, because that is where it all starts. Education lays the foundation. But more is needed to make the leap, and that is where mentorship and support are also important. Preceptorship programs pair novice nurses with experienced mentor, and this is a huge help, as novice nurses can obtain guidance from an actual role model (Devey Burry et al., 2020). Feedback can be obtained, which helps novice nurses see where there is room for more growth. On top of this is the workplace, which should be supportive of new nurses. There should be appropriately adequate levels of resources and appropriate nurse-to-patient ratios so as to reduce the risk of stress and burnout on new nurses.

Novice nurses also need grit, determination, resilience, and flexibility. Resilience and the ability to adapt to change will be a big help to establishing oneself in the sometimes chaotic world of nursing. There should be easy access to continuing education opportunities, such as workshops, seminars, and advanced certifications. New nurses should be able to keep on developing their nursing competencies. They should be encouraged to join professional nursing organizations.