what shift is best for orientation?

[itsnowbegun]

what shift is best for new grads during orientation?

is there alot to learn doing nights?

i will start my orientation on nights.

i had a choice of starting on nights with the same preceptor, or having days and having 2 different preceptors.

my Nm suggested that i start on nights for orientation and then go to days. the reason being is there are alot of new grads doing their orientation during the day shift. i just want to make sure that i will get adequate exposure and training like the other grads who are doing days..

thank you for your response

[ratchit]

I think your NM has a good idea. With a lot of new grads to orient around, it could be hard getting the attention you need and deserve. If you're the only new grad on nights, you won't have as much "competition" to see interesting things and the staff will have more time for you.

I think the best orientation would be time spent on both shifts. You should be oriented to the type of work you'll be doing, but some things don't happen often on nights. You should get a chance to discharge a patient or take them for a test for example. Spending time on both shifts will give you a chance to see more.

You won't learn everything on orientation- I've been doing this for years and have gone through lots of orientations and I still don't know CLOSE to everything. Keep a notebook of things you want to see- things other nurses talk about that sound interesting. When you're nearing the end of your orientation, talk to your preceptor and/or manager and ask for chances to see those things. And if you don't feel ready to fly at the end of your orientation, ask for more time.

Congrats and good luck!

[sjoe]

80% day shift, 10% eve shift, 10% night shift.

[KLS]

I agree with ratchit. What good is orientation if they won't have the time to orient you? You need a good sound base, and then, much of it you learn after you're off orientation anyway. But you definitely need to know the basics, I'd rather do this on whatever shift they can devote the most time to you

Good Luck :)

[SmilingBluEyes]

DAYSHIFT where I work

nights is too damn short-staffed to properly and fairly orient new nurses.

plus we get all the inexperienced ones just off orientation so that presents a problem as to WHO can orient new ones.

dayshift hands-down.

[stella123 rn]

We always orientate on day shift. There are just more resources. My NM told me that nurses on night and evening shift need to practice more independence because 1. the doctor's do not usually make rounds on nights, you have to learn when to call and make more desicions. 2. Ancillary units are not there (you have to mix drugs, do RT and PT). 3. No charge nurse after 8pm. 4. Patient load is larger.

I had my orientation on days and then went to pms. (3pm to 4am). It was kind of an adjustment and I do wish I would have been able to split the orientation between days and nights.

[RNKPCE]

I think it depends what shift you will ultimately be working on. If you are going to work day shift, then I think day shift for orientation. If pm's I think you can do all orientation on pms. If night shift I think it might be nice to have a few shifts initially on nights to shadow someone, find out the lay of the land, but then do the majority on days or pm's, when more doctors are making rounds, patients are more often awake, pt going for test, having to deal more with lab values, etc. Then finish up on night shift to learn the uniqueness(sp) of night shift.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I think it's good to work day shift, but only because it's a good way to see how your institution works. Otherwise, you're still going to do assessments, pass meds, etc. on noc's.

Look on the positive side. You'll be able to hone your skills without management type people breathing down your neck and telling you what to do. Plus, if you are ultimately going to work that shift, it's not going to hurt you to work nights.

You'll will be exposed to plenty and learn a lot on nights.

Good luck!