Our New Normal: Pediatric Nurse Residents' Experiences with Transition to Practice during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This phenomenological qualitative study examined the lived experience of pediatric nurse residents' transition to practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purposive sample included nine pediatric nurses, participating in a nurse residency program, who entered the nursing profession during the first year of the pandemic. The setting was a free-standing, Magnet-recognized, pediatric academic medical center in the Northeastern U.S. Individual interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Narratives were analyzed using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Five themes emerged from the data: Our New Normal; The Rules Keep Changing; I'm Not Ready for This (transition to practice); The Toll of COVID; and Shattered Family-Centered Care. Sub-themes emerged in The Toll of COVID theme: COVID and the Nursing Care Environment, Emotional Toll of COVID, Burnout: A Universal Truth, and The Pandemic within the Pandemic. The nurse residents' narratives uncovered the essence of their uncertainty, sorrow, growth, and resilience. Through the eyes of pediatric nurse residents, this study illuminated the experiences of these novices as they entered the nursing profession amid a pandemic.