Objective The purpose of the study was to explore the lived experience of specialty nurses with full-time posts during the role transition period. Methods A total of 13 specialty nurses with full-time posts from a tertiary hospital in Shanghai were recruited. Semi-structured interviews were adopted and Colaizzi’s 7-step analysis was used to summarize and extract the topics. Results A total of five themes of the role transition period were extracted：①change，including change of work environment，change of nursing outcomes；②recognition，including recognition of the team，recognition of the patients；③growth，including increased autonomy，played a professional leadership role；④motivation，including increased self-requirement，increased motivation at work，and obtained a sense of achievement；and ⑤challenge，including role confusion，lack of guidance，lack of competence，and lack of time. Conclusion The specialty nurses gained a shift in their understanding of themselves and the environment’s understanding of them during the role transition period，which resulted in positive outcomes. There were also challenges and the need to optimize management programs to promote high quality development of specialty nurses.