Letting go: How newly-graduated Registered Nurses in western Canada decide to exit the nursing profession

• Author / Creator

  Chachula, Kathryn M

• The Canadian Nurses Association predicts the nursing shortage will rise to an estimated 60,000 Registered Nurses (RNs) by the year 2022. Further compounding this issue is the approximate 14-61% of nursing graduates who will change nursing roles or exit the profession within two years of practice. Using the Glaserian grounded theory method, the purpose of this study was to examine the basic psychosocial process labelled Letting Go involved in how newly-graduated RNs in western Canada arrive at the decision to exit the nursing profession within five years of entry into the workforce through semi-structured interviews. The study findings revealed the following themes: Navigating Constraints of the Healthcare System and Workplace; Negotiating Social Relationships, Hierarchies, and Troublesome Behaviours; Facing Fears, Traumas and Challenges; and Weighing Competing Rewards and Tensions. This study adds to a growing body of knowledge to understand new RN attrition from the profession.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • New nurse graduate
  • Grounded theory
  • Nurse exit from profession
  • workload
  • shiftwork
  • bullying
  • student-teacher relationships

• Graduation date

  Spring 2014

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Nursing

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3TX35F52

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.