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Getting started: choice and constraint in obtaining a post after qualifying as a registered mental nurse
1Nursing Research Unit, King's College London, UK.
Aims:
To explore the extent to which obtaining a post after qualifying as a registered mental nurse (RMN) is a matter of exercising choice or experiencing constraints.
Background:
The paper is drawn from the first phase of a longitudinal study of the careers of RMNs, commissioned in response to concerns about attrition from the mental health nursing workforce.
Methods:
Questionnaires were sent to all RMNs (n = 550) qualifying from 3-year and post-registration courses in four regional health authorities; 80% (447) responded.
Findings:
Some 73% had obtained a National Health Service (NHS) psychiatric nursing post shortly after qualifying; 95% had hoped to do so. Of those with a post, 71% had obtained their first choice of client group. A wide range of professional and personal constraints emerged as affecting job choice; lack of NHS posts in preferred location and/or speciality was cited most often.
Conclusions:
Support and guidance may be helpful for nurses experiencing delays in obtaining a post, or who are starting careers in a post which is not their first choice.