How long did you oriented as a new nurse?

Nurses General Nursing

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What would be a perfect orientation lenght for the new nurses in your opinion?

BTW I'm asking this question cause I have couple of interviews ahead and I want to pick the facility with the best orientation lenght so I'm kinda curious what is the safe orientation period and what is not,thanks...

CASTLEGATES

424 Posts

Specializes in Addictions, Acute Psychiatry.

How I orient my preceptees are "watch what I do for a few days and follow me, once you think you've got the hang of it, you do it all and I'll follow behind you". I follow them 'till they're making decisions and start to get that gut decision capability. Sometimes it's 3 weeks, other times it's 4 months. It depends on the acuity of the unit, hours worked and prev experience at school. I never set a human to a calendar.

AnnieNHRN

101 Posts

Specializes in med/surg, ER, camp nursing.

I think for a hospital setting, between 6 and 12 weeks is a good period of time to get a good foundation. Depends on the nurse. Does she have previous hospital experience, etc?

I know nursing homes often only provide 2 days - 2 weeks. Yikes, scary IMO!

Blackheartednurse

1,216 Posts

Thank you sincerely for your input..I mean to ask about inexperienced nurses such as myself.

Specializes in L&D.

I think it depends on the type of unit and the acuity of patients, as well as the individual being oriented. The cardiac step-down unit position I was offered averages 8 weeks for orientation, the L&D unit position I was offered averages 12 weeks.

I would be very nervous about anything less than 6 weeks.

flightnurse2b, LPN

1 Article; 1,496 Posts

Specializes in EMS, ER, GI, PCU/Telemetry.

when i started the job i am at now on tele, i got 4 weeks--3 on days, 1 on nights. i had been a nurse for almost a year when i got the job but bc it was such a high acuity floor they gave me extra orientation.

most new grads on my floor get 8-12 weeks.

PurpleLVN

244 Posts

Specializes in AA&I, research,peds, radiation oncology.
What would be a perfect orientation lenght for the new nurses in your opinion?

BTW I'm asking this question cause I have couple of interviews ahead and I want to pick the facility with the best orientation lenght so I'm kinda curious what is the safe orientation period and what is not,thanks...

This totally depends on the "nurse"-some people assimilate to the job faster than others. I'm a visual and hands-on nurse, so I actually "jump in' and do things so that I can get comfortable and experienced. If you feel your orientation is not long enough, speak up!! I'm sure the facility would prefer giving you more time than to risk having accidents. Good luck!!;)

FLMom3, RN

29 Posts

Specializes in PCU, cardiology, oncology.

As a new grad I got 4 wks on a busy, city med/surg unit. The important thing to discuss in your interviews is their willingness to extend your orientation until you are comfortable. Good luck!

Specializes in Med-Surg/Oncology.

If you are a new grad I would request no less than 6-8 weeks with the option of requesting more time if you still feel extremely uncomfortable (I say "extremely" because you are going to be somewhat uncomfortable finally being on your own even if you've gotten a year of orientation ;)). I received 8 weeks as a brand new grad on a 36 bed medical-surgical/oncology floor. I've been off orientation for about 3 weeks and I still have questions about stuff but remember there are always going to be experienced nurses you can ask when you're "on your own".

Blackheartednurse

1,216 Posts

Ideally I would like to have an orientation of 3 and a half months,that is why I applied to RN residency program,however new job prospects have appeared and I will settle for 8 weeks no less!

I've heard great things about those residency programs for nurses. If I were ever offered a residency, I would jump at the chance! I read in a nursing journal (forget which one) that new grads who go through residency programs feel more comfortable in their new role and hospitals are able to retain new grads. Good luck!!!

ShinyRN

1 Post

I graduated from nursing school in May 2009. The hospital I work @ has a formal nursing orientation program for new nurses. The first 12 weeks is general nursing orientation. We learned how the charting system works, policy procedures, how to work IV pumps and other equipment, and we also rotated to each unit in the hospital except for L&D and SICU. During those 12 weeks we had classroom time on monday, which were refresher courses from things learned in nursing school and how to transition those disease process to our clinical practice. On fridays we had a debriefing with our Chief Nursing officer and we talked about what went well during the week and what frustrated us. During those 1st 12 weeks we were only assigned 2 patients per week and we worked 8hr shifts.

After the 12 week general nursing orientation was completed, we started our unit based which varies based on the acuity level of the unit but the minimum orientation time for any unit is 8 weeks. My particular unit based orientation is 12 weeks b/c of the patient acuity level. I have completed for 4 weeks of unit orientation as of 10/23.

To make a long story short....I say pick a hospital with a established nursing orientation program for new grads. You will not feel stressed out trust me. The transition from student nurse to registered nurse will be a lot easier.

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