Preparedness of final‐year Turkish nursing students for work as a professional nurse

Aims and objectives To determine the preparedness levels of final‐year Turkish nursing students starting their careers as professional nurses. Background The transition from nursing student to professional nurse is challenging. One of the ways to help facilitate this transition is to determine how well students are prepared to start work. There are limited, but conflicting, results on this topic. Design Mixed‐methods study. Methods Undergraduate nursing students (n = 4490) in their final year of study from 74 Turkish universities were eligible to participate in this study. Of these, 1804 total students participated from 38 randomly selected universities. Data were collected through an investigator‐developed questionnaire (n = 1804) and focus group interviews (n = 57). Results Students felt highly prepared to start work (57·6%). Those who were older, male, graduates of a vocational high school or already working as a nurse felt most prepared. Students who felt that their education preparation and resources were adequate felt more prepared. Focus group interviews revealed that students felt confident in their knowledge of educational theory, but not in clinical skills. Conclusions Students may have felt prepared to start work, but insufficient clinical experience probably contributed to a lack of confidence in their skills. The resources of the school, the quality of the education, and the clinical practice environments were considered most important for the students’ perceived preparedness levels. Relevance to clinical practice An undergraduate education provides the foundation for successful nurse preparation. A good clinical environment along with a high‐quality education programme can help give students more confidence in their skills when they join the nursing workforce. Internship or residency programmes may also facilitate this learning. This is extremely important for safe, high‐quality patient care.