A Study of Changes in Newly Graduated Registered Nurses' Resilience, Satisfaction With the Work Environment, and...

Newly graduated registered nurses (NGRNs) are likely to leave their jobs because they cannot adapt to nursing work. In Taiwan, a two-year on-the-job training program was implemented to help NGRNs meet the demands and adapt to nursing jobs. However, the effects of the program on NGRNs' satisfaction with the work environment, individual resilience, and intention to stay, as well as the relationships among these factors, remain unclear.

The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in NGRNs' perceptions of the work environment, individual resilience, and intention to stay after they complete each stage of the on-the-job training program and to examine the mediating effect of resilience on the relationship between the work environment and nurses' intention to stay.

A repeated-measures study was conducted at a medical center in Taiwan to survey NGRNs after they completed each stage of the training program. The survey questionnaire included the NGRNs' background information, satisfaction with the work environment, individual resilience, and intention to stay. Changes across the training stages and the associated mediating effects were analyzed.

We observed that NGRNs' satisfaction with the work environment (p < 0.001) and intention to stay (p < 0.001) decreased significantly across the three waves of the survey, whereas individual resilience increased significantly (p < 0.05). Furthermore, we observed that individual resilience significantly mediated the impact of satisfaction with the work environment on nurses' intention to stay (p < 0.05).

The training program can significantly improve NGRNs' individual resilience. However, with respect to their satisfaction with the work environment and intention to stay, the training may require adjustment; alternatively, additional measures may be needed to mitigate the effects of job changes on NGRNs.