[Emmanuel Goldstein]

Originally Posted by scchickadee

Hi. I am a 2nd semester nursing student and I need your help. I am writing a research paper on the effectiveness of new nursing graduate residency programs and job retention. I need data from all nurses - new nurses and veterans too.

What year did you graduate? 1983 LPN, 1988 RN

What was your first job out of nursing school? Heme/Onc unit for both LPN and RN

How long did you stay there? Nearly three years as an LPN; 17 years as an RN, with the exception of about a year and a half on a DM/CHF/Renal floor. (I left oncology and returned to the same unit)

Why did you leave? As an LPN, I moved out of state to attend RN school. As an RN, long story. VERY poor manager.

Did you have adequate orientation to your new job? I suppose LOL. Been so long I barely remember. The orientation I received at the other hospital during my brief break from oncology was superb. I actually thought it was a bit too long.

Was there a nursing residency program available? Nope

[Tweety]

What year did you graduate?1992
What was your first job out of nursing school?General mecial floor at Duke University Medical Center
How long did you stay there?1 year
Why did you leave?I fell in love and followed a man to Florida
Did you have adequate orientation to your new job?yes
Was there a nursing residency program available?It was called "Nurse Internship"
If there was a nursing residency program, how long was it?one year


As a side note, I've had my second job for 15 years.

[fluffwad]

What year did you graduate? 1983
What was your first job out of nursing school? nursing home skilled unit
How long did you stay there? 3 yrs
Why did you leave? better pay elsewhere, wanted other experience
Did you have adequate orientation to your new job? no
Was there a nursing residency program available? no
If there was a nursing residency program, how long was it?

[MrChicagoRN]

What year did you graduate?
1983
What was your first job out of nursing school?
Med-surg
How long did you stay there?
1 year
Why did you leave?
The unit closed, so I got the transfer to psych, which is where I wanted to be.
Did you have adequate orientation to your new job?
No, probably not
Was there a nursing residency program available?
Nope..
If there was a nursing residency program, how long was it?

N/A

[VizslaMom]

What year did you graduate? 2001
What was your first job out of nursing school? Circulating RN in Surgery

How long did you stay there? 1 year in surgery- ***but I've stayed at the same facility for the entire 6 years.****

Why did you leave? I haven't left the hospital, but left surgery because I became interested in ICU.

Did you have adequate orientation to your new job? Yes.

Was there a nursing residency program available? No.
If there was a nursing residency program, how long was it? N/A

*I have stayed at the same hospital since graduation because they are very encouraging of RN staff transfers between units. I think this helps a lot with retention of nursing staff.

[Myxel67]

[quote=scchickadee;2306723]Hi. I am a 2nd semester nursing student and I need your help. I am writing a research paper on the effectiveness of new nursing graduate residency programs and job retention. I need data from all nurses - new nurses and veterans too.

What year did you graduate?
1994

What was your first job out of nursing school?

Cardiac telemetry unit

How long did you stay there?

2.5 years on that floor. 9 years at the hospital

Why did you leave?

Toxic, hostile work environment. Also disliked 12 hr shifts

Did you have adequate orientation to your new job?

No

Was there a nursing residency program available?

No

If there was a nursing residency program, how long was it?

N/A

Good luck with your project

[rn/writer]

Originally Posted by scchickadee

Hi. I am a 2nd semester nursing student and I need your help. I am writing a research paper on the effectiveness of new nursing graduate residency programs and job retention. I need data from all nurses - new nurses and veterans too.

What year did you graduate? 1994

What was your first job out of nursing school? Subacute/Hospice at a large nursing home.

How long did you stay there? Six months.

Why did you leave? Hospice was a misnomer. This unit was actually a high-stress dumping ground for end-stage and infectious disease patients. The staffing was me (a brand new RN fresh out of school) and two CNAs for 35+ patients. Nights. Not only were there end-stage patients, there were tube-feeders, folks with serious decubiti (speaks well of the rest of the place, huh?) that required complicated dressing changes, folks with serious infections, MRSA patients (yup, right there with the immuno-compromised patients), and who knows what-all. Hospice? That was a euphemism for the waiting room for the Pearly Gates. No special end-of-life care. Who had the time?

Did you have adequate orientation to your new job? If you can have adequate orientation for a totally inadequate job, I guess I'll say yes. The truth is, I took the job under false pretenses (and because I was a naive newbie who had no clue what I was signing on for. I wanted hospice and got end-stage and infectious disease warehouse. Deficient staffing, lack of immediate resources, and crazy acuity made this a horrible place to work. I left after six months because I feared for my license, and a much better job came along. BTW, the place was repeatedly fined and finally closed for good after many infractions, including resident injuries and deaths.

Was there a nursing residency program available? No. I wish there had been something like that available. But not at this place.

If there was a nursing residency program, how long was it?

Thanks for helping me with this information.

I would love to see more nursing residencies available. Might go a long way toward retention and improved job satisfaction.

Good luck with your assignment.

[NursesRmofun]

What year did you graduate? 1990 LPN 2003 RN
What was your first job out of nursing school? Oncology Staff LPN
How long did you stay there? 5 years then moved to Med Surg in same hosp.
Why did you leave? Burnout
Did you have adequate orientation to your new job? Yes and No. Nothing prepares you totally, IMO
Was there a nursing residency program available? No
If there was a nursing residency program, how long was it?...

[Toquay]

What year did you graduate? 1992

What was your first job out of nursing school? I went to an Oncology Unit.

How long did you stay there? 1.5yrs then PRN for another yr.

Why did you leave? Left full time days to PRN nights to have more control over my schedule. The Hospital was bought by Columbia Healthcare and the cut backs were awful sometimes 8 patients on days (no techs or one tech for the whole unit) some getting chemo and others getting blood products...very unsafe.

Did you have adequate orientation to your new job? Not until we had a death due to overdose of chemo administration (pt rec'd 10 x the proper amt). This was given by an experienced RN and she was placed on probation and never allowed to work in Oncology again (the Pharmacist that mixed and sent it got a slap on the wrist). We were told if it had been administered by a new RN, we would have been terminated immediately.... only then did they implement an oncology chemo course for new RNs and we were told not to give any chemo until completed (they had us doing chemo Day 1 as new RNs). They also started the 2 RN check system for all chemo at that time.

Toq

P.S. Worked in Ocology Doctor's office for 2 yrs giving chemo then was offered an ICU position ... one of my patients was an ICU nurse and convinced her Director to interview me. Did that for 2 yrs then went to the ER where I currently work. The one thing nursing does do is offer many different fields and the more you know the more you can choose from.

[loricatus]

Originally Posted by scchickadee

Hi. I am a 2nd semester nursing student and I need your help. I am writing a research paper on the effectiveness of new nursing graduate residency programs and job retention. I need data from all nurses - new nurses and veterans too.

What year did you graduate? 2005
What was your first job out of nursing school? Neuro ICU
How long did you stay there? 11 weeks
Why did you leave? Preceptor stayed most of the time with friends in the cafeteria and was left to fend for myself on the floor
Did you have adequate orientation to your new job? No
Was there a nursing residency program available? Supposedly
If there was a nursing residency program, how long was it? 16 weeks

Thanks for helping me with this information.

Having a residency program in place doesn't necssarily mean it is well organized, with trained preceptors.