A systematic review of the factors influencing the effective early career transition to a nursing specialty in differing contexts of practice

Transition to a clinical nursing specialization. There is a predicted shortage of registered nurses by 2020 and already several nursing specialties are experiencing shortages to the extent that patient care provision is compromised. These shortages have occurred due to several influences such as the retirement of large numbers of older nurses and the economic influences on workload and staffing. There is a financial incentive for employers to retain nurses. Therefore the main focus of this review is to ascertain why nurses may choose to specialize, how the current programs are meeting the educational needs, and the barriers and enablers to ensure the programs are successful. Also that nurses have the knowledge, skills and competence they need to work in their chosen specialty area ensuring patient safety and quality of care.