Abstract:
Background: The nature of a new health professional’s transition from student to health professional is a significant
determinant of the ease or difficulty of the journey to professional competence. The integrative review will explore
the extent of literature on the factors that impact the transition of new health professionals into practice, identify possible
gaps and synthesise findings which will inform further research. The aim was to identify research conducted in
the last two decades on the barriers, facilitators and coping strategies employed by new health professionals during
their transition into practice.
Methods: Whittemore and Knafl’s methodological framework for conducting integrative reviews was used to guide
this review. Sources between 1999 and 2019 were gathered using EBSCOhost (including CINAHL, Medline, Academic
Search Premier, Health Science: Nursing and Academic Edition), PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane and Web of Science,
as well as hand searching and follow-up of bibliographies followed. The Covidence platform was used to manage
the project. All studies were screened against a predetermined selection criteria. Relevant data was extracted from
included sources and analysed using thematic analysis approach.
Results: Of the 562 studies identified, relevant data was extracted from 24 studies that met the inclusion criteria,
and analysed to form this review. Thematic analysis approach was used to categorise the findings into theme areas.
Four overarching themes emerged namely: systems and structures, personal capacities, professional competence and
mediating processes. Each theme revealed the barriers, facilitators and coping strategies of transition into practice
among new health graduates.
Conclusion: The transition into practice for new health practitioners has been described as complex and a period
of great stress. Increasing clinical and practical experiences during education are required to support new health
professionals in the process of closing the gap between learning and practice. Continued professional development
activities should be readily available and attendance of these encouraged.
