The Canadian Nurses Association predicts the nursing shortage will rise to an estimated 60,000 Registered Nurses (RNs) by the year 2022. Further compounding this issue is the approximate 14-61% of nursing graduates who will change nursing roles or exit the profession within two years of practice. Using the Glaserian grounded theory method, the purpose of this study was to examine the basic psychosocial process labelled Letting Go involved in how newly-graduated RNs in western Canada arrive at the decision to exit the nursing profession within five years of entry into the workforce through semi-structured interviews. The study findings revealed the following themes: Navigating Constraints of the Healthcare System and Workplace; Negotiating Social Relationships, Hierarchies, and Troublesome Behaviours; Facing Fears, Traumas and Challenges; and Weighing Competing Rewards and Tensions. This study adds to a growing body of knowledge to understand new RN attrition from the profession....

Background: Low levels of compassion satisfaction (CS) and high levels of compassion fatigue (CF), comprised of burnout (BO) and secondary traumatic stress (STS), have been identified as a serious concern among students within health science disciplines. Purpose: To conduct a cross-sectional survey to determine what factors are related to the development of BO and STS within a pre-licensure health studies student population of undergraduate nursing and psychiatric nursing disciplines, groups that have seldom been studied. Methods: Data was collected through an anonymous online survey to determine the presence of compassion satisfaction and fatigue among participants. The survey was comprised of demographic questions and four validated measures that included the Professional Quality of Life Scale (version 5), the Core Self-Evaluations Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Life Events Checklist (version 5). Results: Findings revealed 31% of students reported low levels of CS, 27% had high levels of BO, and 28% had high levels of STS. Students in long-term care/palliative care rotations reported significantly higher levels of BO in comparison to students placed on in-patient units such as medical-surgical areas and episodic care areas that include out-patient and emergency departments. Regression analysis revealed that students with low self-efficacy and high perceived stress were predictive of BO. Students with increased exposures to prior traumatizing life events were predictive of STS. Despite having less sleep, students with high levels of selfefficacy and commitment to their program with less intent-to-leave were predictive of having CS. Significance: To date, this is the only study that has explored compassion fatigue within undergraduate nursing and psychiatric nursing students in Canada. Findings of the study assist educators, clinicians, and policy makers to better understand at-risk clinical settings and predictors of compassion satisfaction and fatigue in undergraduate nursing and psychiatric nursing students prior to entering the workforce as newly-licensed professionals....