ANNOUNCEMENT OF DOCTORAL FINAL EXAMINATION for Natasha Barrow, MN, RN

From Student to Newly Licensed Registered Nurse: A Longitudinal Research on Burnout, Perceived Stress, and Intent to Leave

Dissertation Chair: Dr. Connie Kim Yen Nguyen Truong, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

In-person presentation at WSU College of Nursing, Spokane – Room SNRS 119

Abstract

There is a critical nursing shortage worldwide and newly licensed registered nurses (NLRN) are needed to fill this gap. There are about 150,000 NLRN graduated per year within the United States. Approximately one out of five NLRN (30,000) will leave the nursing field after the first year, and another 1/3 (20,000) will leave within two years with stress and burnout as the most common contributors to attrition of NLRN. There is a dearth of knowledge on how burnout, perceived stress, and generalized health impacts retention of NLRN within the first couple of years post-graduation.

This dissertation research examines perceived stress, burnout, generalized health, and intent to leave in pre-licensure nursing students and NLRN via a longitudinal descriptive multi-method design using the Socioecological model as the theoretical framework.  Participants were from associate and bachelor’s degree pre-licensure nursing programs with a total of four cohorts. These cohorts were students who graduated in Fall 2023, Winter 2024, and Spring 2024. Quantitative data was collected via surveys at four timepoints: Baseline (Timepoint 1: at the beginning of the final academic term), at the end of the final academic term (Timepoint 2), three months after graduation (Timepoint 3), and 6 months after graduation (Timepoint 4). Qualitative data was collected via individual interviews with key informants.

Article one, published in HPHR journal, maps out the methodology for data organization, collection, and real time data analysis, and utility of trackers for clear, concise, and real-time communication. Manuscript two reports on the quantitative survey study comparing levels of burnout, perceived stress, and generalized health at the beginning of the academic term and at the end of the academic term. This report is also on perceived stress, burnout, generalized health, and intent to leave at 3-months and 6-months post-graduation. Manuscript 3 reports on the qualitative study about perceptions and experiences of burnout and stress and intent to leave the workforce.

These research studies add to the literature in having assessed burnout, perceived stress, and intent to leave from a longitudinal multi-method lens following participants as pre-licensure nursing students to NLRN.