CAREER TRANSITIONS AMONG NURSING GRADUATES: A TRACER STUDY OF BATCH 2022-2023

  ABSTRACT : The transition from student nurse to a professional nurse position had, for many decades, been an important area of research in nursing. During this transition phase, graduate nurses faced transitional hurdles and experiences such familiarizing themselves with their working environment, developed clinical skills, associated with new co-workers, and adapted to new ward routines(Labrague L.J., McEnroe-Pettite D., Leocadio M.C., 2019, 2019). This study was a descriptive design, specifically a quantitative design that aimed to track the employment status of the nursing graduates from President Ramon Magsaysay State University, exclusively on the batch 2022 and 2023 totaling 191 students. Graduates from other batch or programs were not included. This study was conducted in Zambales through survey questionnaire on Google Forms. The researchers used social networking platforms to contact its target respondents via direct messages with an attached consent form. The researchers chose respondents based on their convenience or availability, under non-probability sampling procedures. Results showed that out of 55 respondents, 22 or 40.0% are regular or permanent, 17 or 30.9% are unemployed, 10 or 18.2% are contract of service, 2 or 3.6% for both full time and no job, and only 1 or 1.8% for part-time employee. A significant proportion of graduates are able to secure a stable employment, passed the board, served one year in the community, do not have more than a specific private sector position, and search for a job through walk- ins for longer than six months. Researchers recommend the college to continue impart valuable knowledge to itsstudents, particularly in enhancing their communication, teamwork, and interpersonal skills in preparing them for employability.

KEYWORDS: Employment, Graduates, Tracer Study, Quantitative, Zambales