Navigating transition shock: The role of system thinking in enhancing nursing process competency among early career nurses

Background Building nursing process competency among beginner nurses is a pivotal need in contemporary, complex, fast‐paced nursing practice. However, transitioning from the educational phase to practicing as a nurse can be a significant adjustment. New practitioners often experience a period of shock, which may present challenges in developing nurse competency. Fostering system thinking among those nurses could buffer the negative signs of transition shock and cultivate nursing process competencies at earlier times. Aim This study explores the relationship between transition shock and nursing process competency among early career nurses and investigates the moderating effect of system thinking on this relationship. Method This cross‐sectional correlational exploratory study was conducted at four large hospitals in Egypt. Data were collected from 393 nurses from the first of February 2024 to the end of April 2024 using the transition shock scale, the competency of nursing process questionnaire, and the system thinking scale. Correlational and hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the study variables. Results A statistically significant negative correlation exists between transition shock, nursing process competency, and system thinking among early‐career nurses. System thinking is positively associated with nursing process competency. System thinking positively moderates the relationship between transition shock and nursing process competency among early‐career nurses. Transition shock and system thinking account for 23.9% of the variance in nursing process competency among early‐career nurses. Linking Evidence to Action Transition shock is an inevitable phenomenon among early‐career nurses, negatively affecting their competency in the nursing process. System thinking buffers this adverse effect and significantly augments nursing process competency among this set of nurses. Predicting and mitigating transition shock among early‐career nurses is pivotal in building nursing process competency. Nurse educators must develop curricula that cultivate system thinking skills among nursing students, which enables them to buffer transition shock after graduation.