GNSA Bulletin: June 2026

This Month’s Highlight: Beyond Graduation: Understanding Role Transition in Nursing

Graduation marks more than the completion of a degree; it represents the beginning of a significant professional role transition. Few experiences in nursing are as transformative and disorienting as stepping into a new role. Whether entering practice as a new graduate nurse or transitioning into advanced clinical, leadership, or academic roles, nurses often encounter periods of stress, anxiety, and doubt as they navigate new expectations and responsibilities.1,2 Despite how common and impactful these experiences are, conversations about how to better support nurses through role transitions do not occur often enough. Accounting for nearly 59% of health professionals worldwide,3 nurses are essential to the delivery and advancement of healthcare, making successful role transition not only important for individual nurses but also to patient care.  

Creating open dialogue around the challenges and realities of role transition is important in informing strategies that provide better support. Nurses have reported experiencing “transition shock” during role transitions, characterized by difficulty adjusting to increased responsibility, expectations to function as delegators, and heightened pressure stemming from fear of making mistakes and reluctance to ask questions.1,2,4 As nurses assume more autonomous clinical and leadership responsibilities, many also experience moral distress, emotional exhaustion, and anxiety related to increased organizational demands.5–7 Importantly, role transition extends beyond learning new tasks or responsibilities; it often involves a deeper process of professional identity transformation and personal growth. Nurses are redefining how they view themselves within the profession. Recognizing the complexity of this transition is essential to developing meaningful support strategies. 

The literature suggests that both personal and organizational forms of support, including mentorship, professional community, and opportunities for reflective practice, are integral to helping nurses adapt to evolving professional roles.4,5,8,9 Organizations can intentionally incorporate these supportive structures into transition-to-practice initiatives to foster role integration among nurses at all levels. For example, mentors can play an active role in demonstrating and reinforcing clinical skills, acknowledging novice nurses’ contributions to the team, and creating psychologically safe environments for debriefing challenging experiences.4,8 These strategies have been shown to enhance confidence and promote a more positive perception of the workplace environment.4,8 Organizations can also proactively cultivate leadership development by providing early opportunities for nurses to engage in leadership-related experiences that strengthen professional communities and better prepare them for future advancement.4,8 At the individual level, reflective practice, defined as “active, purposeful thought applied to understand the meaning” of experiences,10 enables nurses to critically appraise their experiences and refine their practice in environments that are continually evolving.9 

Transitions in nursing should not be viewed as single, finite events but rather as a lifelong and iterative process. Throughout their careers, nurses may experience multiple transitions, from student to clinician, bedside nurse to educator, or RN to advanced practice and leadership roles, each requiring continued adaptation. While change can be challenging, it is also indicative of growth and expanding professional capacity. Recognizing transitions as continuous encourages a more compassionate perspective that allows nurses to extend themselves grace as they navigate the evolving nature of their professional identities. 

Given the value of connection and support during these periods of transition, I encourage GNSA members to engage with the GNSA Connect community to share questions, challenges, and experiences with peers navigating similar professional journeys. Additionally, if you have not yet registered for the 2026 GNSA Conference, I encourage you to do so at https://www.aacnnursing.org/gnsa-conference, as the early registration deadline is quickly approaching. The conference will be held July 30–31 in Washington, DC, and offers a valuable opportunity to connect with colleagues, expand professional networks, and further explore issues related to role transition. I look forward to seeing many of you there! 

References 

1. Reebals C, Wood T, Markaki A. Transition to Practice for New Nurse Graduates: Barriers and Mitigating Strategies. West J Nurs Res. 2022;44(4):416-429. doi:10.1177/0193945921997925 

2. Hampton KB, Smeltzer SC, Ross JG. The transition from nursing student to practicing nurse: An integrative review of transition to practice programs. Nurse Educ Pract. 2021;52:103031. doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2021.103031 

3. State of the World’s Nursing 2020: Investing in Education, Jobs and Leadership. 1st ed. World Health Organization; 2020. 

4. Ankers MD, Barton CA, Parry YK. A phenomenological exploration of graduate nurse transition to professional practice within a transition to practice program. Collegian. 2018;25(3):319-325. doi:10.1016/j.colegn.2017.09.002 

5. Akomeng Aryeequaye S, Corneau K, Duchscher JE. Professional Role Transition in Nursing: Leveraging Transition Theory to Mitigate the Current Human Resource Crises. Healthcare. 2025;13(6):671. doi:10.3390/healthcare13060671 

6. Miller PH, Epstein EG, Smith TB, Welch TD, Smith M, Bail JR. Moral distress among nurse leaders: A qualitative systematic review. Nurs Ethics. 2023;30(7-8):939-959. doi:10.1177/09697330231191279 

7. Edwin HS, Trinkoff AM, Mills ME. Moral distress in nurse leaders—A scoping review of the literature. Nurs Outlook. 2023;71(5):102026. doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2023.102026 

8. Chau JPC, Lo SHS, Lam SKY, Saran R, Thompson DR. Critical elements in nursing graduates’ transition to advanced practice roles and their perceived impact on patient care: an exploratory, descriptive study of graduates’ and their managers’ perceptions. BMC Nurs. 2022;21(1):122. doi:10.1186/s12912-022-00907-0 

9. Cadorette J, McCurry M, Danells Chin E. Reflective Transition Practice Model: The New Graduate Registered Nurse. Nurs Sci Q. 2023;36(3):282-291. doi:10.1177/08943184231169763 

10. Ashby, Carmel. Models for reflective practice. Pract Nurse. 2006;32(10):28-32. 

Claire Regan, DNP, CRNP, AGCNP-BC
PhD Student
University of Pennsylvania
GNSA Leadership Council Member