New Graduate Nurses’ Perceptions about Contents of Subjective Positive Experiences in Patient Relationships

Abstract

Eighteen nurses who were in their second year of work after having graduated from the university nursing program were the object of a qualitative induction study that was carried out using semistructured interviews for the purpose of clarifying the graduatestes' perceptions about their subjective positive experiences regarding their relationships with patients.

The results were indexed according to 7 categories: Pleasure from Patients' Recovery, Care and Skill Accomplishments, Appreciation from Patients and Patients' Families, Motivation from Patients, Feedback from Relationships with Patients, Recognition as a Nurse, Reliableness for Patients, plus the core category : the Ability to Recognize Yourself as a Nurse.

It was apparent from this research that the subjective positive experiences the newly graduated nurses had undergone were important for overcoming feelings of depression that resulted from day to day work, for enthusiasm at work, for actual feelings of happiness derived from being a nurse as well as for enabling them to recognize themselves as nurses.

These results illustrate the importance of these experiences as they relate to the development of new nursing graduates and have positive implications for those who teach new nurses as well.