Authors

  1. Dabkowski, Melissa Ann MSN, RN

Abstract

CONGRATULATIONS on making it through nursing school and passing the National Council Licensure Examination. Welcome to the profession! This may be difficult to hear, but a lot of research suggests that as a new nurse, you may be subject to role performance stress, moral distress, discouragement, and disillusionment when you're first introduced into professional nursing practice.1 In the United States, 26% of new nurses leave their first nursing job and 2% leave the profession altogether during the first 2 years of nursing.2 That being said, the nursing profession needs you: New nurses are essential to healthcare because the supply and demand of nurses will continue to vary depending upon population growth, the aging of the nursing workforce, and changes in healthcare reimbursement.