I Have Never Felt so Novice: Using Narrative Reflection to Explore the Transition from Expert RN to Novice NP Student

Aim: To explore the experiences of nurse practitioner students moving from expert registered nurses to novice nurse practitioner program students.  

Background: Moving from registered nurse to nurse practitioner can be a time filled with mixed emotions, lack of confidence, adaptation, and competency development. Learning about and navigating the advanced practice nursing role can be challenging. Students in the nurse practitioner program are encouraged to engage in regular reflective writing to foster role development and learning.  This paper aims to reflectively explore the experiences of transition from registered nurse to nurse practitioner student.  

Methods: Inspired by Benner’s Novice to Expert Theory and Carper’s ways of knowing, the authors personally reflected on their transition experiences during NP schooling and then collectively developed a composite reflection of the shared experience.  From this exercise common themes were identified.  

Conclusion: This unique reflective paper identified common themes in the experience of transitioning to the student role. Potential areas for future research-based exploration of the nurse practitioner student experience were identified. By understanding these experiences, students can be better prepared in advance and faculty can design both formal and informal support measures to better support the student experience.