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Virtual Library
Jodi Schweitzer
3096598
Athabasca University

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Virtual Library
The Process:
BioMed Central:
BioMed has been making scientific research freely, accessible and discoverable through
partnerships, innovation and collaboration with the scientific community. Dedicated to open
research, BioMed now publish over 290 quality peer-reviewed journals with focus on Biology,
Clinical Medicine and Health ("BioMed Central," 2016).
Search terms that were most effective, to obtain the desired topic included: nursing transition,
nursing, and role change.
Wiley Online Library:
Wiley online library claims to hosts the world's broadest and deepest multidisciplinary
collection of online resources covering life, health and physical sciences, social science, and the
humanities. It delivers seamless integrated access to over 6 million articles from over 1500
journals, over 18,000 online books, and hundreds of reference works, laboratory protocols and
databases (Wiley, 2016).
Featuring a clean and simple interface, this online service delivers intuitive navigation,
enhanced discoverability, expanded functionalities and a range of personalization and alerting
options (Barnes, 2014).

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Search terms that were most effective, to obtain the desired topic included: RN role
change, work role transition and nursing transition.
ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source:
This database offers reliable, comprehensive coverage of the fields of nursing and allied health
including journals, video, dissertations, reference books and more. Covering topics including:
Nursing, Allied Health, Physio therapy and Occupational therapy, Cytology, Histology,
Physiology, Anatomy, Gerontology and Geriatrics (Claywell, 2003).
Search terms that were most effective, to obtain the desired topic included: LPN to RN, LPN
roles, and nursing change.
The Results:
BioMed Central:
By evaluating the article The transition experiences of internationally educated nurses
into a Canadian health care system: A focused ethnography, through using the scholarly
evidence illustration the article represents Go, level 2. This level is considered to be acceptable
evidence for scholarly writer (Athabasca, 2016) as evidence by being a database that is credible
to search for scholarly publications in nursing.
This peer reviewed journal was published in 2011 from the faculty of nursing, at the
University of Alberta. The audience that the journal targets appears to be a specific group of
individuals being, people who are seeking information regarding transitioning from the role from
internationally educated nurses who are relocating to Canada. Employers and managers could
also be the targeted audience as this article as it provides support options, policies, practice

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recommendations, and suggestions to ease and facilitate the transition from an IEN to Canadian
nurse (Higginbottom, 2011).
The author, Gina Higginbottom, is a member of the faculty of Nursing at the University
of Alberta. She is funded from the Canada Research chair in Ethics and Health with the study
being funded from Prarie Metropolis Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. Higginbottom conceived and
designed the study, obtained grant funding, oversaw preparation of the participant information
and recruitment materials, presented the study to nurses and oversaw and contributed to data
collection, management and analysis (Higginbottom, 2011).
Wiley Online Library:
After evaluating the peer journal, Nurse Practitioner Role Transition: A concept
Analysis, and applying it to the scholarly evidence illustration, I have rated this article as Go,
level 1. This article is a primary source of evidence, being a peer reviewed journal, with direct
reports from the data collecting agencies (Athabasca, 2016). The targets audience appears to be a
registered nurse who is transitioning into a nurse practitioner who may have doubts or questions
regarding their new role and obligations that follow.
The author, Hilary Barnes, holds credentials including MSN, CRNP, and PhD from
Widener University, PA. The data obtained appears to be legitimate as it was examined using a
credible method, Walker and Avants method of concept analysis which included: identifying the
concepts of interest, determining the purpose of analysis, identifying uses of concepts,
determining the defining contributes and identifying antecedents and consequences (Barnes,
2014). As the author, Barnes, is a Nurse Practitioner herslef, one may be skeptical that bias facts
and opintions are present in the article thus, hindering ones views on the article. Another factor to

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consider is that information is bases in the United States, wheres as differing countries, such as
Canada, may have different standards.
ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source:
After evaluating the article, The lived experience of licensed practical nurse (LPN) to
registered nurse (RN) transition, and applying it to the scholarly evidence illustration, I have
rated this article as Go, Level 2. Level 2, Go, is described as data bases such as ProQuest,
CINAHL, and science direct are credible to search for scholarly textbooks (Athabasca, 2016).
The targeted audience for this peer reviewed journal appears to be focused on Licensed
Practical nurses who are transitioning into the RN role, or who are struggling with role identify
as an LPN.
Summary:
To avoid shortages in nursing, recruitment of internationally educated nursed (IENs) has
taken place for several decades (Hingginbottom, 2011). To ease the transition for IENs, upon
relocation to Canada, policies and practice recommendations have been put in to place to
improve the quality of the transition. The employers should provide structured and
comprehensive workplace orientation to IENs with consistent preceptorship to provide ongoing
support (Hingginbottom, 2011). IENs can be evaluated in two separate phases, one within one to
three months and the second being at nine to twelve months (Higginbottom, 2011). At this time,
any concerns, questions or further education opportunities can be addressed and discussed.
Transitioning from Registered Nursing to a Nurse Practitioner (NP) can often be daunting
and overwhelming. During role change, to a NP, there is a shift from an experienced, often expert
RN role to an inexperienced, novice status in the NP role (Barnes, 2014). To ease role transition,

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it is important to remember these four attributes with regards to NP role change including:
absorption of the role, the shift from provider of care to prescriber of care, straddling two
identities, and mixed emotions (Barnes, 2014). It is important to remember the development of
empirical knowledge on NP role transition through further research is essential in order for newto-practice NPs to become high quality, full functioning providers (Barnes, 2014).
There can often be a large amount of animosity between two roles, specifically Licensed
Practical nurses to Registered Nurses. Role conflict may occur when there are contradictory
expectations from members of the role set (Claywell, 2003). LPNs may become unhappy with
feeling just as capable at completing tasks they observe in RN practice, or may believe they are
doing all that an RN does, but are not getting the recognition, respect, or pay for doing so. By
having a clear understanding or each designations roles and duties this may relieve some
stressors for both parties. The role of the LPN differs from that of RN in a number of ways.
Beginning with educational preparation, an LPN program focuses on the skills necessary to carry
out patient care, is usually twelve months in length in a vocational or community college setting,
and includes basic nursing skills, little science and often no liberal art components. Students end
with a certificate of completion and are eligible to sit for the national licensing exam for practical
nursing. Conversely, the RN program focuses on the theory and reasoning associated with that
care while also learning both basic and advanced subjects including a broad array of math,
science, nursing and liberal arts (Claywell, 2003).

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References
Athabasca, U. (2016). Unit 5: The Virtual Library & Scholarly Evidence. Retrieved from
http://cnhs.lms.athabascau.ca/mod/url/view.php?id=72146
Barnes, H. (2014). Nurse Practitioner Role Transition: A concept Analysis. Nursing Forum: An
Independent Voice for Nursing.
BioMed Central. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.biomedcentral.com/
Claywell, L. G. (2003). The lived experience of LPN to RN transition. Retrieved from http://0search.proquest.com.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/nursing/docview/288290150/previewPDF/A
3AB4A5A952F4713PQ/2?accountid=8408
Higginbottom, G. (2011). The transitioning experiences of internationally educated nurses into a
Canadian health care system: A focused ethnography.