4 Days vs. 12 Weeks Orientation/Shadowing

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  1. This is a discussion on 4 Days vs. 12 Weeks Orientation/Shadowing in General Nursing Discussion, part of General Nursing ... I am a new grad and accepted a job in a Rehab facility. I had a total of 4 shadow days and worked...

    by Sep 9, '12
    I am a new grad and accepted a job in a Rehab facility. I had a total of 4 shadow days and worked a double on my own two days later. I'm on the rehab side and a lot of the patients are fairly young; 30's, 40's, and 50's. Seems like a lot of their care revolves around post-surgical care/preventions, dressing changes, pain management, IV antibiotic therapy, nutrition, among other things. I like it. I've only had a total of 6 patients so far because the unit isn't full yet. On midnights I could potentially have a patient load of 24, which frightens me. The paperwork is terrible and it's where I fall short. I have not had any training on admissions/discharges and a host of other paperwork related items. The lack of availability of supplies makes running my floor super challenging.

    I will also be starting my second new job next week. I will have 12-16 weeks of orientation on a med/surg unit. I know from my experience as a student nurse at this hospital, the resources are amazing for nurses. My ratio will be 1:5, sometimes 1:6. As a student nurse in this particular hospital, I do not recall doing any significant amount of paperwork for any of my patients.

    Why is there such a major difference in shadowing between facilities?
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    by Despareux Sep 9, '12 9:46 am
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  2. 3 Comments so far...

  3. Sep 9, '12 by
    Anyone?
  4. Sep 10, '12 by
    Who knows..could be anything from the MBA who manages the facility to the lawyers that give advice to the facilities past experience with new grad/new nurses or their feedback.
  5. Sep 10, '12 by
    Around here the 4-8 days is norm for a sub acute facility and long term care. It is really a sink or swim type environment. I had 6 days I believe when I worked on a subacute rehab unit in LTC & had 11-14 patients. It was very overwhelming, and I never got out on time due to the large amount of paper work and tasks. When I switched to a hospital my orientation was 10 weeks, and that worked out pretty well. I would say there is slightly more charting per patient in the hospital, but this system is much easier. Plus I only have 3-6 patients to chart on vs 11-14. It just seems like LTC wants to invest as little as possible in new hires, because many jump ship ASAP.