A qualitative exploration of nursing students’ readiness to transition into the profession

Abstract

Background: The fi nal semester of nursing education is a stressful period as students prepare to transition from academic training to professional practice. This transition requires readiness, including clinical competence, psychological preparedness, and the ability to apply theoretical knowledge in patient care. Objective: To explore how nursing students nearing graduation describe their transition into their future roles as registered nurses. Design: Qualitative exploratory design. Setting: A university in Sweden. Participants: Twelve fi nal-semester nursing students. Methods: Data were collected through focus group interviews (n = 3) and individual interviews (n = 5) between November 2022 and January 2023. Inductive qualitative content analysis was applied. Results: One overarching theme emerged: Leaving security — transitioning into an unpredictable storm with a feeling of ambivalent readiness. Five categories were identi fi ed: Re fl ecting on the nurse ’ s role, Feeling ready but insecure, Continued learning process after graduation, Challenges and concerns regarding future profession, and Dealing with uncertainty in the new role. Conclusions: Students felt prepared and eager to begin professional practice while recognizing its complexity and challenges. They remained con fi dent, humble, and optimistic in facing their new role. © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Organization for Associate Degree Nursing. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)