Transitioning care for adolescents with spina bifida in the US: challenges for management

Perspectives of Chinese New Nurses Regarding Successful Transition: A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND

Transition issues have been discussed for many decades, yet little is known about successful transition expectations in the context of Chinese culture.

PURPOSE

This article was designed to describe the expectations of newly graduated nurses in China regarding successful transition.

METHODS

A qualitative, descriptive study design was employed, and a purposive sampling method was used to recruit interviewees. All of the one-to-one conversations were held in a quiet room to ensure privacy. All of the interviews were transcribed and then analyzed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Nineteen new nurses were recruited from seven tertiary hospitals and participated in the in-depth interview process. Transition success, that is, "professional metamorphosis," was revealed through the four themes of "being competent in nursing work," "establishing a professional identity," "establishing comfortable interpersonal relationships," and "achieving balance between work and life."

CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Chinese new nurses expect their successful transition to achieve a professional metamorphosis in many aspects. A successful transition is not only a journey of professionalization but also a process of socialization. New nurses expect to achieve both maturity in their work and wisdom in life. The results of this study provide a greater understanding of transition issues in the context of Chinese culture. Thus, support and strategies cannot be limited to interventions designed to improve working competence but should be individualized to help new nurses achieve a smooth transition.

Delayed Solid Tumor Presentations in Adolescent and Young Adults Patients in the Bronx

Adolescent and young adults (AYAs) require support from their parents and caregivers. While there are formal programs available for patients with complex medical problems, <20% of pediatric practices are performing transition readiness processes in patients aged 12-17 years to effective transition. Although cancer is the most common cause of disease-related death in AYAs in high-income countries, AYA oncology patients have not attained the same clinical improvements as pediatric patients, and their outcomes remain poorer. While there are published data on an expected degree of lag time for patients presenting with solid tumors, due to the underlying biology and slow growth of the cancer, we have recently witnessed extreme delays in the presentation to medical care. In this article, we share the cases of two young adults.