Starting an ER job with no orientation?

[LostnNakedNursing]

Greetings!

I been reading through these forums and I'm wondering if you can help me decide if I want to accept a job or not in the Emergency Department. I'm a new grad who is about to start at a 6-bed Emergency Department hospital with around 10 other beds for observation and acute care. I'm starting in two weeks but today, I received a phone call about my schedule and they said they are no longer going to do a orientation or a training program and they wanted to just have me start on the floor with the other nurse. The nursing director reassured me and said that I will learn from the other nurse but I don't know how I feel starting in a emergency room without any previous nursing experience and without an orientation to the unit.

Do you think I should dive in or am I putting myself (and patients) at risk?

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

I have one last question. Am I justified in declining this job offer? Outside this board, I'm feeling a "new grad entitlement" passive feeling from people (counselors)

More than justified! It's YOUR license, not your counselors' license. Protect it. And heck yes, you're ENTITLED to an orientation! Geez. Like theantichick, I also came into nursing with paramedic experience -- 5 years of paramedic and 3.5 years as a tech in the ED where I ended up working as an RN for the first three years of my RN career. And even with all that, I *still* needed an orientation. Anything else just isn't safe. Even seasoned nurses who came to us from other non-ED units got at least 4 weeks of orientation.

I can't believe these people would entertain the idea of no orientation. Run! Run away!!!

[jallen326]

I would not take the job as a new nurse without proper orientation. It's your license that will be on the line if something happens to the patient under your care. Even travel nurses get a few days of orientation, even with experience. I know it's hard to find a job, but find a place that puts patient safety first, and not just a body to fill in the gap! I wish you the best.

[RunawayN]

Hello LostNNakedNursing

I just wanted to say that I hope you found a job and I hope you made a good decision not accepting the job offer.

I wanted to share this quick story, I recently just resigned from my ED position. On this thread, I said I received about a week of training but in reality, I received less then one day (I was in denial). I was foolish enough to stay but I gave it a chance because the nurse manager reassured me so many times but after cancelled training days, no real support from staff, and little-to-no feedback. I decided it was in my best interest to resigned (this is the short version of my story).

As people have said on this thread, you worked hard for your license and you shouldn't compromise yourself or your future. You worked hard for your license and you probably have a lot of student loans. I would hate to see anyone in a situation where they lose their license and still have to pay for their loans.

More importantly, it didn't occur to me until my friend brought this up to me but when a hospital/facility hires you, they are investing their money in you so you can provide safe and efficient care to your patients. The hospital obviously did not care enough made such investment. If a hospital was unwilling to invest in a basic orientation, then they are setting themselves and you for failure. Think of this in terms of you being an athlete: you're a sports star in college and brought to the big leagues - the coach decides to have you start the game without any idea of the team's play. Basically, you're the sports star brought into the unit with only your nursing school foundation. And if the team loses or something happens, guess who's going to be blamed?