Transition into the workplace: comparing health graduates’ and organisational perspectives

Abstract

Background: Health graduates face personal and work-related stressors during the graduate year. The extent to which employers and health graduates have a shared understanding of graduate stressors is unclear but may impact graduate support and transition into the health profession. Aim and design: The aim of this exploratory qualitative study was to identify factors that impact health graduates’ transition and integration into the workplace, comparing the perspectives of health graduates and organisational representatives. Method: Individual and small group semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 medical and 26 nursing graduates and five organisational representatives from a regional health organisation in Victoria, Australia. A thematic analysis was undertaken on the data. Findings: Five main categories were identified: dealing with change, dealing with conflict, workload, taking responsibility and factors that influence performance. Conclusion: Similarities and differences in the perspectives of health graduates and organisational representatives were identified. These findings have implications for current graduate support programs.

Keywords:

• adaptation
• health occupations
• qualitative research
• social support
• workplace
• Australia