EKelly

I am a manager for Telemetry units that are considered critical care areas in our 600 bed hospital. I hire new grads with enthusiasm. They need to present themselves on interview with a yearning to learn and an asssertive nature. We have an excellent orientation progrma which I believe is the key to sucess for any new grad. When interviewing, ask for specifics regarding the orientaiton that you will receive. We have a four week course in critical care ...the orientee goes to class 2 days a wekk and is on the unit for three days. There are three exams that must be passed during this time....rhythm strip interpretation, critical care nursing, and a pharmacology exam - all material on the exams is taught in the class. After the four weeks are completed and the exams are passed (if anyone fails the first time, they are given a second opportunity to pass - our goal is for everyone to pass) - the nurse then is assigned to work 12 hours shifts with one preceptor on the day shift....this can last for 2 weeks up until 2 months.....then the Rn goes to the night shift and again works with a preceptor for 2 weeks or more, whatever is necessary for the individual (and the manager)to feel that he/she can provede safe and effective care for the patients. Many new nurses orient for the 4 weeks (class time & unit time), 2-4 weeks on the day shift and 2-4 weeks on the night shift......this is about average. I never promise anyone specific time frames because we like to treat everyone individually - we all have different learning styles (and the preceptors are unique also) Hope this helps you.....the key to success is a very good orientation. The manager can not put the new grad on his/her own too soon because of staffing shortages....this is a disaster.....keeping the new grad on a longer orientation is costly but in the long run it is financially sound....we retain RNs. Please contact me if you have any further questions.