laws for orientation?

[cecook]

I am just curious if there are laws for new grad orientation. I just became a LPN this past November, start my first job tomorrow. I have just been told from my placement agency that i will not receive any orientation at all. I will be handed a binder, told what is needed to be done and go to it. Oh and if i have questions then I can ask a nurse for help. I am a little uneasy about this. It doesn't seem safe for me or the facility just to turn me loose with no orientation. Is this legal?

[sleepyndopey]

It's legal. You have been licensed by the state and are deemed competent to perform duties within your states LPN scope of practice.

Are you working for an agency? That's not a good idea at all. If you are going to work at long term care facilities as an agency nurse you will be in big trouble when you show up! They will expect you to know what you're doing right away. You might want to re-think this.

Good luck.

[elkpark]

Welcome to nursing, and to allnurses! :balloons:

The point of being licensed is that you have been found by the state regulatory board to be competent to practice within the scope of your licensure. Any orientation, short or long, that a facility offers you is entirely up to them. There is no legal distinction drawn between a licensed nurse who graduated last week and one who's been nursing for 20 years. The license is the license ...

I also am curious -- you are working as a temp/agency LPN after having just graduated last Fall??? That seems like a bad idea. The expectation of "agency" nurses is that they are experienced, seasoned pros who can walk into an unfamiliar facility and be ready to do the job with minimal orientation/guidance. While it seems, IMHO, very irresponsible of an temp agency to sign up and place a new grad, the agency, also, is doing nothing illegal. It is up to you to make smart decisions about what is safe or not for you to do -- unfortunately, no one is going to protect your license but you.

[cecook]

Thank you the both of you for your input. I had no clue that temp agencies expect the nurses they hire to be able to perform their job with little to no guidance. I don't understand why they would even hire a new grad. But i have to take some responsibility in it, I should have researched more. Thank you again.

[EmmaG, RN]

Thank you the both of you for your input. I had no clue that temp agencies expect the nurses they hire to be able to perform their job with little to no guidance. I don't understand why they would even hire a new grad. But i have to take some responsibility in it, I should have researched more. Thank you again.

A reputable agency wouldn't have hired you. Not meaning anything bad about you, but because of what was explained above. Please consider getting a year (or more) under your belt before you work agency.