Promoting the legitimacy and agency of new graduate nurses' participation in nursing research.

AIM: This paper explores the legitimacy and agency of new graduate mental health nurses to participate in research activities as a regular part of their professional nursing role.

BACKGROUND: There is a wealth of literature describing personal and organisational factors that act as barriers to nurses' engagement in research and overcoming these barriers remains a challenge for health organisations. Some new graduate nurses are well positioned to contribute to research and yet the literature has given little attention to this specific cohort.

RESULTS: This paper will show how facilitating new graduates' participation in research benefits the new graduate and the health service.

CONCLUSION: New graduates learn research skills from experienced researchers and this ensures a sustainable future workforce of researchers. Employers who support staff to pursue professional challenges such as research are more likely to generate organisational commitment and loyalty amongst staff.