cost to train a new grad

sunnycalifRN · Nov 30, 2009

I don't know the answer to your question but at our facility we are employing a program called Versant RN Residency. The goal is to improve new grad retention rates as well as ease the entry of new grads into nursing, all units. Their website, http://www.versant.org, might have the monetary stats you're looking for.

fiveofpeep · Nov 30, 2009

thats a great idea. I am looking into it. Thank you : )

OC_An Khe · Nov 30, 2009

The costs will vary by employer in how extensive a program they have for new grads, or any new hire for that matter. Some employers have a short preceptor program while others a long internship. You might try finding out what the specifics of the program are from the HR or nursing department. For example the length of time, is there a preceptor for you to work with, are their classroom time involved, etc.and then try costing out the cost of the program from any financial data you have. I would not include the cost of a nurse recruiter as those costs are typically spread out among all hires.

FYI just remember that the least expensive nurse is the one already employed so that retention should be emphasized in any institution.

dishes, BSN, RN · Nov 30, 2009

According to various articles, costs for training a new grad vary between 15,000-50,000.

http://www.nursingcenter.com/Library/JournalArticle.asp?Article_ID=818387

I consider a new grad leaving after 2 years a patient safety problem because 2 years is not enough time to become an expert in a specialty area. It is enough time to become an advanced beginner and function independently but there is still a reliance on advice from the more experienced nurses. If the new grads work at a facility until they become advanced beginners and then leaves. This type of cycle puts too much responsibility on the expert nurse and can lead to mistakes.

elkpark · Nov 30, 2009

And just for fun (read: not assignment related) what do you think about the cost? Has it always been this way? What do you think about the problem with new grads bailing after their two years is up? I can definitely understand why new grads are having difficulty acquiring jobs when we cost so much and have been found to be unreliable retention-wise in the past.

It has certainly not "always" been this way. Until comparatively recently (the last 20-25 years or so?), nursing schools (esp. the hospital-based diploma schools) turned out new graduates who were prepared to function as (entry-level) RNs and did not require extensive orientation. The idea of a 6- month (or longer) "internship" for new graduates would have been incomprehensible, because there was no need for such a thing -- but I see so many posts here from new grads who expect to be offered a program like that and feel like they're being mistreated if they aren't. I'm also pretty horrified at how much conversation I see here (and encounter elsewhere in nursing) that takes for granted that one graduates from nursing school knowing v. little about nursing and one "really" learns what one needs to know on the job.

It makes perfect sense to me that hospitals are balking at the idea of hiring new grads (at the standard RN pay rate) and then having to teach them practically everything they need to know to get through a shift. I don't think that's going to change any time soon. IMHO, we've really gone off the rails in nursing education (and I say that having taught in both ADN and BSN programs).

JenPen2332 · Dec 7, 2009

It makes perfect sense to me that hospitals are balking at the idea of hiring new grads (at the standard RN pay rate) and then having to teach them practically everything they need to know to get through a shift. I don't think that's going to change any time soon. IMHO, we've really gone off the rails in nursing education (and I say that having taught in both ADN and BSN programs).

This is very encouraging. Thanks for your input. :yeah:

I agree that it is substantial how much more training a nurse needs after spending so many years in school to be able to function in the role of an RN. However, I would not say that a new graduate needs to be taught everything there is to know to get through a shift. I think we deserve a little more credit then that. Geesh.

And sometimes its easy to forget that we all started out as new graduates, even experienced nurses (that means you :), and probably expected to reap the rewards of the incredible amount of work put into becoming an RN, and eventually we do want some form of reimbursement for his hard work.

And so what if a hospital has to fork out some $$ to train a nurse. Nurses are the backbone of the hospital and it's interesting that when they hospitals are taking away raises and such that they report 7 million dollars in profit last year...ect...

Just saying, try to remember what it was like when you were a new nurse. I'm sure we all have the same expectation, to put our time in and get something out of it. A job preferably! :twocents:

fiveofpeep · Dec 7, 2009

thanks everyone for your input :)

some things we discovered include:

-nurse's cost 44% of a hospital's budget

according to a study by Bea Chiang (2009)

-the cost to pay for the one year of nurse's salaries to staff one ICU floor at a level II trauma center was 9.2 million dollars

-a new grad costs about 20,000 to train in southern california

thanks again

PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN · Dec 7, 2009

According to various articles, costs for training a new grad vary between 15,000-50,000.
http://www.nursingcenter.com/Library/JournalArticle.asp?Article_ID=818387
I consider a new grad leaving after 2 years a patient safety problem because 2 years is not enough time to become an expert in a specialty area. It is enough time to become an advanced beginner and function independently but there is still a reliance on advice from the more experienced nurses. If the new grads work at a facility until they become advanced beginners and then leaves. This type of cycle puts too much responsibility on the expert nurse and can lead to mistakes.

These are the same grads who think they can become experts just by going to grad school. I know for a fact some areas of my hospital systems refuse to higher these types of "experts."

TakeTwoAspirin, MSN, RN, APRN · Dec 7, 2009

The cost really depends on where you are and what specialty you're training in. For example, at my facility new grad floor nurses get about 3 months orientation. This includes a a week to 10 days of classroom, approx 2 months highly supervised, and a final month where you are monitored less closely before being turned out on your own with a full number of patients. This costs around $15,000 - $20,000. However, the OR orientation is a full 6 months. The first month is spent in a classroom, followed by 5 months of one-on-one mentoring. You are never really left alone for the first 6 months. The cost for this program is around $25,000 - $30,000 total. The ICU program is 3-4 months long, and you can figure out the approximate cost of that based on the two others. Be careful in your report to compare apples with apples! Good luck. It's an interesting topic.

PS: as for why people leave after their commitment, because their base pay as a new grad/intern is generally low, and unless they get a relatively steep pay increase at the end of their two-year contract they can almost always get paid more as an "experienced" nurse some place else. I'm not saying I agree with this, but I hear it time after time as being the reason new grads leave after their contracted period, so take it for what it is.

sweetER · Jun 13, 2010

It has certainly not "always" been this way. Until comparatively recently (the last 20-25 years or so?), nursing schools (esp. the hospital-based diploma schools) turned out new graduates who were prepared to function as (entry-level) RNs and did not require extensive orientation. The idea of a 6- month (or longer) "internship" for new graduates would have been incomprehensible, because there was no need for such a thing -- but I see so many posts here from new grads who expect to be offered a program like that and feel like they're being mistreated if they aren't. I'm also pretty horrified at how much conversation I see here (and encounter elsewhere in nursing) that takes for granted that one graduates from nursing school knowing v. little about nursing and one "really" learns what one needs to know on the job.
It makes perfect sense to me that hospitals are balking at the idea of hiring new grads (at the standard RN pay rate) and then having to teach them practically everything they need to know to get through a shift. I don't think that's going to change any time soon. IMHO, we've really gone off the rails in nursing education (and I say that having taught in both ADN and BSN programs).

As an about-to-graduate nurse, I know that I have much, much, MUCH more to learn. But I don't think I need the hospital to teach me EVERYTHING I need to know to get through a shift. My school has taught me a little bit. I agree with you that nursing education could be very much improved (like, getting rid of "fluff" and teaching us more hands-on stuff) but I don't think that the decline of nursing education in the past twenty years or so is the sole reason for nurses needing more on-the-job training today. I've had many older nurses tell me that the patients who are on the med-surg floors today would have been in the ICU twenty years ago, and those in the ICU would have been dead. Patients are just a lot more acute now, so there's so much to learn it would be really difficult for a school to fit everything a nurse needs to know into two years. While I do view a long orientation/preceptorship as a kindness done by the hospital and not anything I just expect, I do think it helps new nurses gain confidence faster and reduce errors made by new nurses. If it helps patient outcomes and makes a new grad a better nurse, why not do it?

AggieNurse99, BSN, RN · Jun 13, 2010

So my 2 year contract is up, and I'm looking for something better. Ideally after finishing my med/surg-tele contract I'd like to go into a critical care internship - because I have more to learn. If not that, then I need to go somewhere as an 'experienced' nurse for better money, seriously having problems making ends meet. Oh, and my manager was insulting when I was told to be happy with my raise, at least I got one effective for the whole year. Another coworker was told we'd rather have mediocre nurses with great attitudes.