How long should orientation be?

Lipoma, BSN, RN · Jan 3

12-16 weeks.

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Jan 4

If it is an internal transfer you won't need the general orientation, just the unit orientation so I don't think a full 12-16 weeks is likely necessary. I would think 6-8 weeks is adequate. Maybe even a little less if you get comfortable faster.

Pug RN · Jan 4

Not internal transfer.

Sorry for the misinformation.

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Jan 5

Pug RN said:

Not internal transfer.

Sorry for the misinformation.

Well in that case the 12-16 weeks orientation the other respondent mentioned is spot on.

JKL33 · Jan 5

In your situation I think there is the tendency for everyone to think that since you won't need to be taught basic nursing then you'll need practically no orientation at all. MUCH better to set reasonable expectations and exceed them (take less time on orientation than planned) than to go along with the idea that you need practically nothing and have people give you about 1 weeks' chance to get up to speed and when you don't they put you on a PIP and basically write you off.

Should be fine with reasonable expectations and supports. Half the battle is learning the work/role of the ED, our protocols, etc., and.....alllll the things we don't care about 😂. You have a lot of relevant experiences that can be applied to the ED so should do great. Good luck!

FiremedicMike, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Jan 13

4-6 months new grad, 6-12 weeks for experienced nurses.

That said, ED is a totally different ball game. We've had med-surg nurses and psych nurses try to make the switch, none could keep up. I'm not saying this is you or implying you'll fail, just sharing my observations. ED is extremely fast paced and you need to be able to organize your thought processes between bed 1 with a stubbed toe to bed 4 who's pressure just went from 210 systolic to 120 systolic to 0 systolic in the matter of 3 minutes.