Newly qualified nurses' and midwives' experience with continuing professional development during transition: a cross-sectional study

Aim: To explore newly qualified nurses and midwives' experience of continuing professional development (CPD) and factors associated with CPD participation during newly qualified nurses and midwives' transition, such as job satisfaction and intention to leave.

Background: Newly qualified nurses and midwives find it difficult to make the transition to their first registered post. During the transition, professional support through CPD is essential to build competence and confidence and increase job satisfaction and retention.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Methods: This study was conducted from September 2021 to October 2022. The online survey, consisting of 83 items, included: the Questionnaire of Professional Development of Nurses (Q-PDN), the McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction Scale, three questions about Intention to Leave and two open-ended questions. The analysis was conducted by combining the results from the three European countries. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed. The participants were Newly qualified nurses and midwives from Ireland, Italy and Croatia RESULTS: A total of 476 Newly qualified nurses and midwives completed the survey. Of these, 32 % (n=152) were satisfied with opportunities to participate in CPD activities and 54.8 % (n=261) had participated in a formal CPD programme. Most newly qualified nurses and midwives (89.1 %, n=424) agreed that they would like to participate in a formal CPD programme. Almost half of the participants (46.4 %, n=219) had thought of leaving the profession in the previous 12 months. We found that 'having participated in a programme to support newly qualified nurses (OR=0.29; p<.001), 'participating in mandatory CPD activities' (OR=0.76; p=0.016) and 'working in the clinical area of community' (OR=0.31; p<.001) or in maternity (OR=0.46; p=0.040) were positively associated with better job satisfaction.

Conclusions: Participation in support programs during the transition period contributes to increasing job satisfaction for newly qualified nurses and midwives. During their transition, newly qualified nurses and midwives need more support from their institution managers, in terms of ensuring a better learning environment, as well as formal and informal supports.