“Loving Nursing” and “Taking Responsibility”: Strategies for Transitioning to Practice in Lebanon:

Transitioning to practice is challenging for baccalaureate nursing students. In baccalaureate nursing programs, the process typically begins in the junior year. A Successful transition depends on how well students apply their developing knowledge during clinical placements. A cross-sectional, multisite, qualitative study was conducted at four universities in Greater Beirut, Lebanon. In total, 35 junior baccalaureate students participated in audio-recorded focus group discussions. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Three themes were sufficient to summarize the students experiences: “being unprepared,” “learning unexpected lessons,” and “taking responsibility.” Three subthemes, revising expectations, discovering divergence, and self-monitoring, were used to clarify the unexpected lessons students learned during clinical placements and how students responded. “Loving nursing and protecting yourself,” making the most of every day, and doubting future readiness were subthemes within the “taking re...