Successful transition of the new graduate nurse.

Reports that new nurse graduates are not sufficiently prepared to enter the workforce are of concern to educators, employers, and other stakeholders. Often, this lack of 'practice readiness' is defined in relation to an inability to 'hit the ground running' and is attributed to a 'gap' between theory and practice and the nature of current work environments. To gain a deeper understanding of the process of making the transition from student to graduate nurse, discussion groups were held across Alberta with 14 new graduates and 133 staff nurses, employers, and educators.

The relational narrative: implications for nurse practice and education.

Nurses frequently encounter situations in which they are compelled to make ethical decisions about what is good and right to do in their day-to-day practice. Often existing moral edicts prove to be inadequate in light of the patient's particular circumstances. To what, then, can the nurse turn? In response to this question, Gadow (1999) proposes a dialectical framework comprised of three ethical approaches: subjective immersion (ethical immediacy), objective detachment (ethical universalism), and intersubjective engagement (relational narrative).

The notion of evidence in evidence-based practice by the Nursing Philosophy Working Group.

Questions concerning the nature of evidence in evidence-based practice have kindled debate within nursing and other health care disciplines. Such questions include the ends for which evidence is sought, the form(s) of evidence, and the values underlying evidence-based practice. In this article, some of the issues, contradictions, and tensions implicit in these questions are highlighted.