Appropriate orientation time for PRN ICU staff?

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Specializes in ICU.

Just curious how long your ICUs train their PRN people. I landed a PRN job in a very small community ICU, and they are giving me two days of orientation before they cut me loose. It is a brand new computer system, brand new monitors, and brand new ventilators - they literally use none of the same equipment I have ever used before. It's also so small that there will probably be times I will be the only nurse present in ICU. My resource is going to be the house supervisor if I have questions.

I am a very fast learner, but I am a little concerned that I may be setting myself up for failure. The people interviewing me seemed convinced that because I work at a larger hospital in a bigger ICU for my main job that I will have no problem acclimating to this one. What do you all think - is two days of orientation ever safe in ICU, even a very small one that ships out most truly critical patients?

If you are an experienced ICU nurse, I think it's fine. You know how to take care of patients, it's just some equipment you need to learn. I would focus on those things during the 2 day orientation. This is about what most travelers get when going to a brand new hospital with new everything. I've had less and did just fine.

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