Dintwe Tumelo, Gause Gopolang, Sehularo Leepile Alfred
NuMIQ Research Focus Area, Faculty of Health Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Lifestyle Diseases Research Focus Area, Faculty of Health Sciences, North-West University, Mafikeng, South Africa.
BMC Nurs. 2025 Jul 12;24(1):911. doi: 10.1186/s12912-025-03572-1.
Transitioning from clinical practice to academia can be unsettling, due to uncertainty around expectations. For some newly appointed nurse educators this implies relinquishing management or supervisory roles at the clinical site to being novice nurse educators. Although there are suggestions to provide clinical nurses with formal preparation to support and promote a smooth transition to academia, there is no clear plan in place to facilitate this, which leaves a knowledge gap regarding transition from a clinical role to academia.
An exploratory descriptive qualitative research design was used to achieve the aim of the study. Data were collected by an independent research assistant during August and September 2024 through online semi-structured individual interviews conducted on the Microsoft Teams meeting application. Criteria for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research as set out by Lincoln and Guba were employed. Data analysis was guided by Creswell and Creswell's steps.
A total of 12 newly employed nurse educators with an experience of between 6 months to 5 years participated in the study. Two main themes emerged: newly appointed nurse educators' workplace-related challenges during transition; and newly appointed nurse educators' personal challenges related to transition. Theme one had seven sub-themes, while theme two had four sub-themes. Findings were further discussed in relation to the available literature.
Newly employed nurse educators' transition from clinical practice to academia is often overlooked yet is challenging. The assumption is that newly employed nurse educators are expert clinicians, and therefore are specialists even in the academic space. However, this is not the case, because the academic environment is totally different from the clinical environment and can be overwhelming for novice nurse educators. It is recommended that more research should be conducted on support measures for newly employed nurse educators.
从临床实践转向学术界可能会令人不安，因为对期望存在不确定性。对于一些新任命的护士教育工作者来说，这意味着要放弃临床场所的管理或监督角色，成为新手护士教育工作者。尽管有建议为临床护士提供正式培训，以支持和促进向学术界的平稳过渡，但目前尚无明确的计划来推动这一进程，这在从临床角色向学术界过渡方面留下了知识空白。
采用探索性描述性定性研究设计来实现研究目的。2024年8月和9月，由一名独立研究助理通过在Microsoft Teams会议应用程序上进行的在线半结构化个人访谈收集数据。采用了林肯和古巴提出的定性研究可信度保障标准。数据分析遵循克雷斯韦尔和克雷斯韦尔的步骤。
共有12名新聘用的护士教育工作者参与了该研究，他们的工作经验在6个月至5年之间。出现了两个主要主题：新任命的护士教育工作者过渡期间与工作场所相关的挑战；以及新任命的护士教育工作者与过渡相关的个人挑战。主题一有七个子主题，主题二有四个子主题。结合现有文献对研究结果进行了进一步讨论。
新聘用的护士教育工作者从临床实践向学术界的过渡常常被忽视，但却具有挑战性。人们的假设是新聘用的护士教育工作者是临床专家，因此即使在学术领域也是专家。然而，情况并非如此，因为学术环境与临床环境截然不同，可能会让新手护士教育工作者应接不暇。建议针对新聘用的护士教育工作者的支持措施开展更多研究。
