Nurses' Professional Development and Confidence Three Years Post-graduation: A Qualitative Study

The current nursing workforce shortage underscores the urgent need to understand nurses' experiences and the factors they consider essential for retention. In this light there is growing interest in research that explores how nurses define their roles, knowledge, and professional development.

The aim of this study was to explore nurses' work experiences three years after graduation and to identify what enabled their professional development and confidence.

This research was part of a longitudinal qualitative study in which the same participants were interviewed three times over a span of four years. For this study, interviews were conducted three years after graduation, from March to April 2024. The researchers conducted individual semi-structured interviews with the same participants as in the previous two rounds. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's Reflexive Thematic Analysis.

Two themes were constructed: professional insight and the meaning of collegial community. The main findings showed that the participants felt more confident both in caring for their patients and in how they expected and demanded to be taken seriously in interdisciplinary contexts. The participants often referred to their experiences and competence related to practical skills and to their ability to find solutions, as well as to their growing sense of authority associated with their profession as nurses.

The findings indicated that professional insight and collegial community were intertwined, mutually constitutive components of professional self-esteem and development; each shaped the other, and together they influenced what nurses identified as enablers of their professional practice.