Orientation and first day at work how was it for you?

First week was in a classroom for orientation going over policies, computer training, and paperwork. After that I was on the floor with a preceptor for 8 weeks. Preceptorship off me was basically these are your patients and your preceptor is there to make sure you do things correctly. She taught me new things when needed but for the most part let me do my own thing. She always double checked my charting and would go in the patients rooms to ask them how I was doing so I got really good feedback. There are some preceptors that follow you consistently and watch you like a hawk but mine wasn't like that (thankfully)

Hi everyone.

I will be starting in a new hospital here in the US after working in my previous institution for about 5 years. Since I am a foreign nurse, and this will be my first hospital in the US, I would like to get an idea about the acute care setting here in the US and what I can expect during the first few weeks of my orientation period. I understand it may be different per institution, but I am just curious if there will be classes, written exams or competency tests, training, and how long the average preceptorship is.

I'm just extremely nervous and don't know what to expect.

Thanks.

Mine was a week of classroom, then twelve weeks of complete hell on the floor working under people who didn't particularly like me and certainly didn't have time for me.

I came pretty close to getting fired, but managed to advocate for myself and stay on for two more years of torture. The good news, eight years later, is that it takes a LOT to stress me out. I work with nurses who've never had more than five patients in acute care ...but I started out with eight patients and an LVN to cover who also had eight patients.

I hope you have a much better experience, but remember that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

I have been RN for about 7 months now & want to share some thoughts that might be helpful to you. Although you are new to the US hospitals, you mentioned you have 5 years of experience & that should help you immensely. Although there may be many differences, you should be able to learn and adapt to this new environment. Consider your new RN training (6-8 weeks) as the best opportunity to learn and "ask" as many questions as you can. That also means to ask to demonstrate anything that you are unsure about. Although there are stories of many horrible or uninterested preceptors, I strongly suggest you stay positive, focused, and learn everything you need to from your preceptor & other nurses. ASK them questions. Make them do their work, which is to observe you, correct you, and help you. Besides your preceptor, seek out other nurses. You are always going to find an RN on your unit who will be willing to help you. Also make sure you have a small notebook(that fits in your scrub pocket) where you can jot notes. Lastly, congratulations and best wishes to you.

I started having flashbacks and completely missed that you had five years of experience in another country. I think you'll be OK!!