The experiences of Canadian-educated early career nurses who practise in the US

Abstract

Nurses who are early in their careers make important decisions that begin them on unique career trajectories. One of these decisions may be migration. Little is known about the experiences and career decisions made by early career nurses who were educated in Canada and are working in the United States. Focus groups were conducted with nine nurses to explore and describe their experiences. Utilizing the Learning Theory of Career Counselling as a framework, the analysis highlighted the environmental conditions and learning experiences described by the participants. Two themes were identified: early decisions and ongoing decisions. The career trajectories of these nurses were characterized by decision-making. They made decisions about becoming a nurse, where to work and in what clinical specialty. The learning experiences and environments to which they were exposed influenced their early decisions and continued to influence their ongoing decisions about returning to Canada.