People, liminal spaces and experience: understanding recontextualisation of knowledge for newly qualified nurses

Background Little is known about how newly qualified nurses delegate to health care assistants when delivering bedside care. Aim To explore newly qualified nurses' experiences of delegating to, and supervising, health care assistants. Design Ethnographic case studies. Settings In-patient wards in three English National Health Service (NHS) acute hospitals. Participants 33 newly qualified nurses were observed, 10 health care assistants and 12 ward managers. Methods Participant observation and in-depth interviews. Findings We suggest that newly qualified nurses learn to delegate to, and supervise, health care assistants through re-working (`recontextualising') knowledge; and that this process occurs within a transitional (`liminal') space. Conclusions Conceptualising learning in this way allows an understanding of the shift from student to newly qualified nurse and the associated interaction of people, space and experience. Using ethnographic case studies allows the experiences of those undergoing these transitions to be vocalised by the key people involved.