Coaching our Novice Nurses

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN

Last week, I had an opportunity to facilitate a panel of novice nurses who had recently completed their first year in practice. I was so proud of the ability of these young nurses to reflect so thoughtfully on their experiences during their professional transition. When I asked one of the panelists what novices need from nurse leaders, he told me that what he most needed during that first year was hope. The hope that he would learn, grow and be successful.

Novices Nurses Today

This is the time of year when thousands of new nurses enter practice with enthusiasm and passion for the profession that they have chosen. They are the future of nursing and may someday take care of you or one of your family members. All of us were once novice nurses. We would not be where we are today without having experienced the challenges of being a novice.

What you might not realize is that although reality shock has been part of new nurse transition for decade, the transformation from student to nurse is even more challenging today. Good coaching can make a significant difference in both reducing the frustration often felt by new graduates, and retaining them in their initial work settings.

Four Ways to be a Better Coach for Novice Nurses

1. Remember what it was like to be novice

Experienced nurses move through their work day often giving little thought to their clinical decision making process. Nursing responses that appear so obvious and almost innate to a seasoned nurse may not even be on the radar of thought for the newer nurse. New graduates are in the novice stage of their nursing development. They rely on following the recalled rules of practice that they learn in school and may not grasp the full context of a nursing situation. The novice nurse may appear to be slow in their actions and focused on tasks that need to be immediately accomplished. This is part of development on the continuum from novice to expert.

2. Promote critical thinking skills

A frequent complaint about novice nurses is that they lack critical thinking skills. Good coaching is critical to the development of strong clinical reasoning. New nurses need to be provided with learning opportunities where a coach helps them through guided discussion and reflection to connect their thinking and action. Some good questions to ask to promote critical thinking skills include the following:

What is the first thing that you plan to do after receiving report on your patients?
What tasks can wait until later?
What is confusing to you?
How long can you wait to intervene?
What are your major concerns with the care of this patient today?
How will you evaluate the appropriateness of that intervention?
What could go wrong here?
What evidence are you using to support your assessment?
What did you learn from this experience?

3. Be sensitive to generational differences

When coaching novice nurses, it is important to consider generational differences. With four generations (Veterans, Baby Boomers, Generation X and the Millennials) in today’s workplace, you may find yourself coaching a novice nurse who has very different attitudes, beliefs, work habits and experiences than your own. As the world changes, generational cohorts have different life experiences. These experiences create preferences about how a generation wants to be coached and motivated by those who work with them. Most new graduates entering the workforce today are members of Generation Y (born between 1980 and 2000). Generation Y as a cohort expect more coaching and regular feedback than any other generation in the workplace. They are optimistic and goal oriented but want structure, guidance and an extensive orientation.

4. Give them hope and encouragement

Having a unit culture that promotes the importance of coaching, learning and teaching will help to build the confidence of novice nurses. Today’s health-care environments are often very chaotic. New graduates can easily become overwhelmed and feel professionally isolated. The novice’s sense of self-trust in their own judgment is often tenuous. Hope and encouragement about the progress that they are making is extremely important feedback, especially when it comes from nurse leaders.

Coaching our novice nurses is a responsibility that all professionals in nursing share. Our contributions to coaching future generations of nursing may have a much longer and more profound effect than anything else that we do as professionals.

Read to Lead

Dyess, S. & Sherman, R.O (2009). The first year of practice: New graduate learning needs and transition experiences. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing. 40(9), 403-409.

Sherman, R.O. & Dyess, S. (2007). Be a Coach for Novice Nurses. America Nurse Today, 2(5), 54-55.