How long was your hospital orientation for a prn ICU position?

[pearlbubbles]

Hello. I have 2.5 years of experience in an ICU and recently moved into a 9-5 job in a different state. I really miss the critical care side of nursing and would love to pick up a PRN job to keep up with my skills. However, I have heard some places make you do a week long hospital orientation. How long was your orientation? (I am not talking about the unit orientation. I am talking about the orientation where you have to do electronic medical record training, etc.) Since my 9-5 job is pretty new, I won't be bale to take an entire week off for another hospital orientation.

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

Unfortunately, nearly all hospitals have a week-long, mandatory, non-negotiable hospital orientation for all employees (nursing, admin, housekeeping--everybody). It's easier and cheaper for hospitals to have everybody go through HR orientation all at one time. It may only be 3 or 4 days instead of the full 5, but it's impossible to get out of, and you won't be able to start your unit-based orientation until it's complete.

One of the days (or at least a half day) is usually computer training, so if you've got experience with that EHR, you might be able to get out of that portion. They also tend to build in a day (usually the last day of the week) for CPR training, so assuming you have CPR you can skip that part, too. You could try reaching out to HR at local hospitals, but you'll probably still be looking at 3-4 days of hospital orientation.

I know this doesn't help in your situation, but for other posters who may be thinking about making a similar career change: if you think you may want a PRN job, it helps to start the PRN job first before the full-time job. That way, you can get your orientation out of the way for your PRN job, then schedule your PRN around your orientation for your full-time job.

[SweetSouthernLove, ASN, BSN]

I would really scout and probe hiring recruiters, sometimes if you spend enough time talking with them they can adjust your orientation. I just was hired on as a PRN in the OR with the same problem as you and I got out of the week long orientation completely. You could ask for maybe an accelerated orientation? Like a one day campus orientation, EMR, your med access and pharmacy info and a tour of the place you will be actually working so you can get a locker or whatever else you need to set up with other staff. Again, I don't speak for all hospitals or all nurses, this is what I was able to work out with a recruiter. Some hospitals who are open to hiring traveling nurses often have stuff like this available for this reason as well. Hopefully you can get it! My 9-5 is a desk job as well and I wanted to keep my OR nursing skills sharp. Good luck!

[MadieA]

Hey! I know I'm a little late to the thread but I've been reading your past posts and have a lot of similar questions as you did and was wondering if you could pass on some of the wisdom you've acquired as you've started your nursing career? I just graduated with my BSN and have a job lined up in the burn ICU at a hospital. I chose this unit because I've always LOVED Microbiology and thought it would be a good unit for that. I have been very interested in pursing a career thats focused in Microbiology but I, like you, am more interested in the research side of things. I've had a meeting with an ID NP and am going to shadow her and some docs on their Microbiology rounds, but I was interested in hearing about your journey in figuring out what sort of advanced career path you might take and how you ended up choosing to pursue CRNA? Any and all info/ insights are appreciated! Thank you for your time ?