Only 19 shifts for new grad orientation Med/Surg??? whhaaaattt

[student456]

My best friend since grade 5 just graduated from a BSCN nursing school and he got a job at a large teaching hospital in our city and they are only giving him 19 - 12 hour shifts for orientation on med surg! I almost croaked when he told me this....isnt that wayyyy too short a a med surg orientation for new grads? After his 19 shifts are finished the nurse manager told him he is going to be pulling a full patient load like any other nurse would.

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

You have to remember that depending on the type of rotation on orientation he gets he may be getting some good time in. Also he wont be the only one on the unit, he will have resources available to him all the time. By the 19th shift a new grad should be able to handle a new surgical, medical or other patient fairly well. If there are problems there will be people there for him to get help from and ask questions of if things get to hairy for him. At the end of the 19 weeks he will also go through an evaluation and along with the nurse manager and care coodinator and they will decide if he feels he needs a couple extra weeks.

I think he will be more comfortable than you give him credit for.

[MikeyJ, RN]

I work on a pediatrics floor as a nurse apprentice and new RN's are given 6 weeks of orientation (18 12-hour shifts). However, if the nurse feels as if that is not enough, they are able to request additional time with a preceptor.

I have a few friends that took high paying positions at local hospitals notorious for horrible staffing ratios (but yet very high paying) and were given a few shifts of orientation before thrown to the wolves. That is scary... scary... scary! One friend in particular was given 1 week of orientation (3 shifts) and she started in the ER!

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

the way they worked his schedule out is that its only actually 4 weeks of on the floor orientation because its like 2 days on 3 days off then 3 days on , etc for a total of 19 shifts in a month...its not straight 3 days a week schedule then 4 days off

while that's kind of inconvenient, it's the same amount of hours whether it's several days off in a row after several days working in a row.

i'm not sure how long my orientation was, because i had 240 hours total, but this included class days, a day with a unit clerk, and two days of orientation to the hospital, not on the floor...which took up about 72 hours of that...so i think that is a reasonable orientation.

jess

[RNpandoraRN]

Orientation at my hospital is a full 12 weeks (of three 12-hour shifts per week)...and that's just once you're on the floor... NOT including the 3-4 weeks spent in general orientation, nursing orientation, and then classes.

I'd have run for the hills if they'd given me any less. Or worse, I'd probably have made a fatal mistake. Any less than 12 weeks is a frightening thought to me.

[bollweevil]

I think it sounds about right. However, if he feels uncertain about things, if he has any qualms, he should tell his manager before the end of those 19 shifts and see about having a couple more shifts of Orientation. I say to speak up sooner rather than later because the manager will likely be expecting him to take a full load when she makes the next schedule.

One important point: it is important to train on the shift that he will actually be working, not just on Days.

I wish him all the best.

[bollweevil]

It's sad, my first thoughts were "that isn't too bad." But that's because my friends had 2 weeks. Yes, as new grads on med-surg (in a famous hospital, to boot), they only had 2 weeks until they were thrown into the fire. I told them to run, but they didn't listen, until 1-2 yrs later.

What made them actually quit?

[Fiona59]

It's pretty generous by Canadian standards. Orientation is time to learn the hospital procedures and unit routine. It's not a time to develop your skills.

It sounds cold but up until the last few years new grads got roughly five shifts to learn the unit routines. The rationale was you graduated from nursing school therefore you should know how to do this. The shifts were to learn the routine of the unit and familiarize yourself with any speciality specific skills.

[linzz]

The above is true, many hospitals in Ontario are way over budget and they must balance their budgets to a zero deficit by 2009. Some hospitals will be bailed out of this mess but most will not. One way to avoid layoffs, is to shorten orientation times. It is my opinion that taxes have become so high here in Canada, that our health system will be forced into cutting back. It all boils down to the almighty dollar. Can you tell my father is a Chartered Accountant LOL.

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

I think 6 weeks sound about normal for med-surg. My ICU orientation in only 10 weeks and that too, is about normal around here. My orientation is only 10 weeks but that doesn't mean I am totally on my own, there are always great nurses around me who love to teach. I work on a great unit--I'm very lucky.

One thing I have learned as a new grad is things like supportive nurses, strong team work on the unit, nurses and doc who don't mind teaching, etc is more important than the actual length of your orientation.

[KaroSnowQueen, RN]

I must live in a different world than y'all do. I have NEVER been offered more than TWO weeks of orientation at any bedside nursing job!!!!! And I was amazed to get that much. My very first job out of nursing school I had about a week and a half, and that was it. Maybe the world has changed in the zillion years since I was a new grad.

I know in my last hospital position, there was a new grad who asked for, and got 4 weeks orientation. Her very few days on her own were not going well, and she was placed into a probationary period, where she had to check in with the NM every week on her progress. And I thought that was amazing, I had never seen anybody get that long.

In my present job, where my only patient contact is by phone, I got 4 weeks plus of orientation. I thought that was way more than enough.