April 16, 2014, 20:56
KallehIncumbent
Have you ever heard the word
incumbent to mean entry-level professionals. I
study new graduate nurses and I've never heard it used that way. Also, the dictionary doesn't support it, I don't think. The online dictionaries have definitions like "the holder of an office or post" or "one who occupies a particular position or place." A newly licensed nurse doesn't fit those definitions.
The word was used in a manuscript I read, referring to new graduate nurses. The authors used the term 13 times in the paper, so it clearly was intentional. Here is an example: "A study was conducted to analyze practices surrounding entry-level
incumbents. It sounded so strange to me. There are so many other terms for new graduates in the literature, such as newly licensed nurses, novice nurses, new nurses, new graduates or entry-level nurses.
What are your thoughts?
April 17, 2014, 19:41
tinmanI think they got the wrong word.
April 18, 2014, 00:51
arnieThey are using it as a synonym for
post-holder or
job-holder I assume.
April 18, 2014, 20:28
KallehIt seems like the wrong word to me. I suppose
job holder could be right, but the concept was a newly hired nurse and not a job holder
per se.