Newly Licensed Nurses’ Experiences in Rotational Training Programs in Japan

This article describes the experiences of newly licensed nurses in rotational training programs that lasted longer than 6 months. A qualitative descriptive design was chosen for this study. Six newly licensed nurses were interviewed individually. Transcripts of interviews were coded for each incident and sorted to identify clusters of codes. Findings indicated that newly licensed nurses experienced both the benefits and the disadvantages of this training system. They benefited from extended learning through various experiences. However, they also experienced stress and lacked a sense of fulfillment because of the short term of each rotation. Nurses who are in charge of staff development should attempt to minimize the negative effects and maximize the positive effects to improve the clinical competency of nurses.