4 Days vs. 12 Weeks Orientation/Shadowing

[Despareux]

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?

[Despareux]

Anyone?

[Marshall1]

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.

[Nurse Kyles, BSN, RN]

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.