Stumbling in the dark

This theme comprises the factors experienced by SDNs in their initial period of the role, which they described as a time of adjustment and unsettledness. For some SDNs, it took some time to ‘figure out’ what the role was—they came into the job with little understanding of what working as an SDN entailed, and as Shannon observed, they experienced a period of ‘stumbling’ along, struggling to find the structure and what it was they were required to do in the job:

I always knew education was important, but I didn’t understand how it all came together. So, there was probably, for a long period of time, about three months, a lot of stumbling along in the dark, making things up as I went along (Shannon).

To stumble is to go unsteadily or act in a hesitant way (“Stumble”, n.d.) and was reflected in the SDNs’ lack of comfort and confidence during their period of

adjustment:

It took about three months, to be able to feel confident in what I was doing day to day and that I had things planned and to sort of get a bit of momentum up (Jessie).

It took me over a half year to figure out what my job was as a staff development nurse. And I grew more comfortable in that role just because of the length of time that I was in it (Beth).

The idiom being in the dark describes being uninformed or ignorant about something (“In the dark”, n.d.) and signifies the period during which SDNs are trying to figure out what the job is but cannot yet see a meaningful shape or structure:

In that first month I really had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I think in the very beginning, that’s what I struggled with. I was like, I’m not really sure what is supposed to be going on (Linda).

In the beginning I was spending a lot of time sitting at my desk thinking, “I’m sure I’m supposed to be doing something, but I’m not really sure what that is.” (laughs) It would have taken me probably another three or four months to really get into it (Nancy).

In analysing SDNs going through the process of not knowing what the job entails, stumbling in the dark (see Figure 5.2) emerged as a concept to describe this theme. In the context of this theme, stumbling in the dark means not being able to see clearly or having any idea where you are going. The key subthemes of stumbling in the dark are not knowing the role and blurred expectations.

Figure 5.2. Theme of stumbling in the dark.

5.3.1.1 Not knowing the role

Although participants were experienced nurses, the majority mentioned that when they were a nurse on the floor, they did not have an understanding of the role of an SDN, and expressed not knowing what they had ‘got themselves into’. In this sense, they were entering an unknown space in the dark. They were not long into the job when they experienced not knowing or understanding the job or what the job entailed:

First of all, you don’t really know what your got yourself in for. When you’re a nurse on the floor, you really think that’s [SDN] a very easy role. You really have got no understanding of the [SDN] role at all. (Nancy)

To begin with I wasn’t really sure what the role of SDN was, I wasn’t really sure of what the position entailed (Linda).

For some, moving into the new role of SDN from a direct patient care role was more of a change than they had anticipated. Their role as a clinical nurse on the floor had been characterised by structure, policies and procedures, whereas in the new role, participants were surprised by the loose structure, describing an initial period of

transition when they were seeking to understand the role expectations. This is evidenced by the quotes below:

Suddenly you've gone from a position where you come to work, you have your set work and you break it down and design your day, but

you have tasks and they're all individual little tasks to achieve patient care, so you understand your role with good clarity and what you need to achieve in a day (Tara).

Ward nursing is task orientated, so when it’s 10 o’clock, it’s time for doing the [observations] … everybody knows that that’s what happens at that time. And that’s what I struggled with the most in the role at first. I’m sure I should be doing something, but I’m not sure exactly what it is. And if it’s important, I wish someone would come here and tell me, exactly what it is I should be doing (Linda).

I like to be really organised, so when I first came to the staff development role in those early days, maybe there was a routine, but I didn’t understand it. I didn’t really understand how staff development worked in the big scheme of things, I think that’s because I didn’t understand the processes (Shannon).

Descriptions of orientation processes varied significantly, and the inconsistency of a structured orientation was evident for some SDNs. A lack of or delayed orientation was detrimental to their progress in understanding the role, and was conveyed by participants as:

I never really got an orientation and I think, in some ways made it [transitioning to role] more difficult (Shannon).

I had some orientation six or eight weeks after I started … I think it could have been more beneficial if it had been at the beginning and I’d had a better understanding of what I was supposed to be doing (Linda).

Orientation to the job was a factor which, for some, affected their ability to get the job done or prolonged the time to understand the job. The quality of the orientation was influenced by factors such as absent senior nurse educators, leadership turnover or lack of structured program or process in place to orientate new SDNs. This gap in the orientation, along with no preparation for the role, led to a state of not knowing the role or what it actually entailed, which resulted in blurred expectations of the role. Once they were in the role a few months, they started getting an idea of what the expectations were but were still not completely aware of these.

5.3.1.2 Blurred expectations

For nursing staff, successful job performance depends on a clear and full understanding of workplace expectations and guidelines; for example, knowing the ward routine and demonstrating clinical skills required for specialist areas. In this subtheme, SDNs commented on expectations for their new role that were very different from what they were used to as a nurse on the floor. At this point, SDNs were moving from a state of not knowing to a state of beginning to know what the role was: it was as if they could see expectations appearing as shapes in the dark that were unfamiliar and unformed as yet. SDNs were discovering there were expectations, albeit unknown to them, from other nursing staff and the SDS. SDNs did not see these expectations clearly at first; however, they had a sense that people expected them to fulfil a role but were unsure what those expectations were. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines the term “blurred” as something vaguely or indistinctly perceived (“Blurred”, n.d.); these blurred expectations related to their own expectations and managing expectations of others during the transition to the role:

I found the transition very difficult to move into that SDN role because of the expectations, which were my own … what was staff development and what was different from my clinical role (Beth). My real challenge was trying to separate myself as a clinician to then an educator, and I found that really difficult, trying to gauge the expectations that I had for myself as well as what the staff had of me (Tara).

Participants questioned their readiness for the role; not knowing the role caused them to have blurred expectations of themselves, and of what others expected of them while trying to figure out what actually was expected of them in the role. This caused the SDNs to experience a period of stumbling along in the role, trying to find their way. SDNs observed that transitioning to the role and subsuming an expert persona could be challenging, along with the internal pressure to be considered expert:

I didn’t think I could do it [ role of SDN] or what to expect. I thought, well, okay, maybe I should just dive in the deep end and just see (Ronda).

I did lots of clinical reading, because I thought that was more what I had to know (Jessie).

When I first came into staff development, I didn’t think I was ready. I had my own expectations of what I thought I needed to be … your expectations as a clinician and that you're expected to know all these things now because you hold an SDN position (Shannon).

[Ward Staff] started by treating me quite gently, but as the questions became more complex, I started thinking how am I going to manage all this time that I need to teach other people and teach myself things that I need to know to actually teach them? So that was a bit of a challenge to start with (Simone).

… you’re coming from a team environment and then you’re by yourself. I’d say it’s a confidence thing. It really comes down to having a lot of confidence. You really need to build on that … Everyone just thinks you should know it all … but we don’t know it all. We can’t know all the policies and procedures. There’s no need. Look it up. And that’s the thing (Nancy).

It was not only their own expectations, participants observed, but also suddenly being thrust into the role resulted in a perception that ward staff had expectations of the role; the challenge for the SDNs was to ensure others did not have mistaken

expectations:

There’s this assumption [by ward staff] that the minute that you step off the floor, all (of) the sudden you’re not [NAME] who was a clinical nurse, you’re an SDN so you’re supposed to know it all, and you’re supposed to have all the answers. I found that a little bit off- putting (Shannon).

Look, I think clinically you always have barriers because of the perception of the [SDN] role … there's an expectation from the floor that you're an extra and if it's busy you should be out there helping (Jessie).

Sometimes other staff members were either supportive or a little bit negative of the fact that you had gone into the role … they might have been more senior people who had hung around in the hospital longer but … also the type of people who never stepped into those roles, the

but you get difficult personalities everywhere and I just let it go (Tara).

SDNs discovered that the SDS also had expectations of the role: You come into staff development and you have these ideas of what you think might be wanted from you. I wasn’t aware of the other aspects, like, having to help out with [hospital-based programs] induction sometimes, or on the safety skills day being rostered in to do either a talk or assessment, something like that. (Nancy)

There’s lots of fine print … you’re not too sure about until you’ve … talked it through with your educator … because when you talk about being a SDN, you don’t necessarily think outside of your own … area. You think I’m going to be staff development nurse for [CLINICAL AREA] and it’s not just about that area. You realise it’s about the hospital as a whole … I will go to other wards to do in-services and I’ll get roped in to go help on the xyz course or, as I did the other day, a whole day of safety skills. The medication talk three times in a row. They didn’t tell me about that when I started. They didn’t tell me that at all (laughs) (Sonya).

Stumbling in the dark was the initial phase of transition to the role. SDNs described a lived experience of first not knowing what the role entailed or was, dealing with expectations and searching for a way to make sense in understanding their role. As SDNs adapted to their new job, they appreciated it was about understanding the job, dealing with expectations, and learning about processes and business systems. For the SDNs, as they became increasingly aware of their new world of staff development, they also become aware of the scaffolding to support them in their role.