NP Orientation period

Trauma Columnist · Apr 14, 2017

Very dependent on the practice. I've heard in primary care, you get little to no orientation. In our nephrology practice, we give 3-5 months as it takes that long for the credentialing part.

chiromed0 · Apr 20, 2017

Haaa ha...I've been waiting to tell my story. My first day on the job, heck my first hour...I was handed a laptop, spent an hour with the clinic mgr logging in, getting set up, then the doc/owner tells me, "okay, you logged in? Alright go see some patients, you know what you're doing". Sounds like a vote of confidence, nope! Just an overbooked schedule! Second day...shadowing him in another clinic (that I did not apply for and haven't been able to stop filling in a couple of days a week at -- it's been over 6 months now) we get to lunch time and he said, "go get you something to eat and come back". Okay, my reply, "what time should I be back (ya know 1/2 hr or an hour)?" He replied, "NO, I said go GET something to eat and come back, you're a provider now--you don't get a lunch if there are patients." WTH? So that can be your experience. I hope not but be prepared. Most people say 3-6 weeks and ramping up from a few pt's/hr to a full schedule.

Rnis, BSN, DNP, APRN, NP · Apr 22, 2017

I had a LONG orientation.... I had two weeks of spending a few days following every provider on my team. Then I had 2-3 weeks of following them and taking patients and then telling them what I would do before going in with them. Lastly I got to ramp up. I got to pull the holds out of my schedule at my leisure . I had 6 months to loose them all. I see on average 12-16 pts a day...with about an hour of my time blocked for administrative tasks a day. I will say that it has been a smooth transition.