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Depenfds. I have worked at two HCA facilities. In Georgia my orientation was non existent. First night on the floor,eight patients. At my current facility,at least on the unit I work,if you are experirnced,you work with a preceptorfor 12 shifts. If you are a new grad its almost 2 months!!!They don't have the best reputation for orienting or retaining on a company wide basis.good luck
the ones i worked at orientation was 1 week hospital orientation then depending on what unit you were working on and your expeirence. i have seen ones working with me get up to two months orientation on the floor. just be sure to speak up if you are not comfortable let them know. a good nurse manager will accomodate you. HCA has been great to work for ,for me that is:)
I work for HCA in California and started right out of school. My orientation was 6 weeks, but because I had to wait for my results of NCLEX it ended up to be about 8 weeks. I was working as an interim permitee. I also did my preceptorship on the same floor so felt prepared to be on my own.
Well good grief, orientation SHOULD Be individualized...some experienced nurses only need a few days to orient to location of things, dr. routines, etc. Others, with no experience may need several weeks. I would ask the MANAGER what the standard orientation involves and how long the average period of orientation is.
HCA does not have it's own standard for orientation...the individual facility and unit does and, as mentioned, it is generally tailored to each new grad. Within limits of staffing of course.
Like all facilities if there are callins you will probably end up pitching in...and in reality I don't ever recall having much real orientation...mostly OJT and teamwork even as a new grad.
I always found I learned faster when I had my own patients vs tagalong. Keep in close communication with your preceptor and manager, don't be afraid to jump in and learn, and you should do fine. :)
HCA is a bottom line for profit corporation but the one I work for has good nursing managers...it makes all the difference. :)
peaceful2100, BSN, RN
914 Posts
I forgot to include this with my last post but as of today HCA has now took over a large hospital system in my city and so I will be working for them after graduation. From my understanding they are the largest for profit hospital system in this country. Is that correct? Anyway, for those who have experience with this how long is HCA orientation for a new grad working on a Medical-Surgical unit. When I was going through the interviews a couple a weeks ago the nurse managers said they did not know if the orientation would change with HCA. The way it has been for a new grad in Med-Surg is 9 weeks orientation. Is that the same for HCA, more or less? IF someone could please let me know that would greatly be appreciated.
The one thing the nurse managers was certain of was the fact that new grads are starting out $3.00 more per hour compared to last year because of the hospital system switch but the benefits are a little higher.