6 weeks of preceptorship program

[vwbeetle]

Hello everyone,

I saw a job posting for newly grads nursing recruitment at one of the large hospital near where I live.

They seem to be hiring quite a few in several departments.

All of them indicates

"6 weeks of preceptorship program"

They all appear to be what we call "floor nursing".

Isn't 6 weeks a bit too short for someone fresh out of a school?

Don't most jobs, outside of nursing, give you average 3 months of probation?

I had a chance to speak to one of the nurse who happens to work there.

"In the past, when I started, they'd put the newly grad nurse with an experienced nurse until he/she gets comfortable with the new job. Nowadays, due to short staffing, the hospital just make you start working immediately on your own."

What are most typical length of a preceptorship program in your region?

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Preceptorship and probation aren't necessarily the same thing. In my world, your preceptorship can be as short as 2 weeks, while the probationary period is 504.75 hours, or 13.35 weeks of full time hours. When I started my first hospital job as a new grad, my preceptorship was 4 weeks on a neonatal stepdown unit.

[vwbeetle]

OK, I see. I misunderstood and thought the preceptorship program exists instead of probation period in the hospital settings.

Thank you for clarifying this in such a short time.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

No worries! A preceptorship is the period of time you're buddied with and supervised by someone else while you learn the job. Probation is when you prove you're up to the job. My current unit is a very high acuity PICU where the new grad orientation/preceptorship is 16 weeks in most cases. Some people have slipped through the cracks and finished their probationary period while still being shepherded along by a senior nurse. THEN management realizes that the new nurse isn't quite cut out for our unit and it's too late to do anything about it. Happens about 4 times a year...