What to expect during orientation

scaredsilly, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2014

Hi, and congratulations on your first job!

Every facility is different, and it will be a bit different if you are in a new grad program or not. So no one who hasn't been on your unit in your facility is going to be able to give you a detailed response, but I can tell you what my orientation was like.

The classroom part is easy-and probably boring (at least most of mine was). We toured the hospital, got our IDs, and all that jazz. Had a half day training on their computer system, learned where things were, learned the med system, about security in the med rooms, etc. Had a half day of HIPAA training, ending in a quiz we had to pass. More quizzes on med calc and a couple of other general things. During that part of the orientation, I began to network with other new grads, we formed a support group to give us all someone to vent and whine at when the going got rough, and that REALLY helped! I strongly suggest you do that, you WILL need them!!

Once on the floor, I had the world's greatest preceptor! I started on L&D, so it was different than where you are going, but iin general terms not THAT different. Remember your clinical on med surg? You are going to learn to do everything all over again that you did on clinical, plus everything you watched the nurses do that you weren't allowed to do yet. My orientation was 12 weeks, and that was a gift. I shadowed my preceptor the first day or so, watched everything she did, asked a lot of questions, wrote down a lot of answers and learned a lot! After that, she would follow me around. If I didn't know what to do, she would guide me. Didn't take more than a couple of days where she was giving me a patient on my own, and only watched me "sometimes", then I graduated to 2, and finally 3 patients. As time went on, she got rest more while I tried to do everything for the patient, and at the end of 12 weeks, I was on my own and still feel like I don't know enough. It's hard to say exactly what you will learn and how long you have to learn it-too many deciding factors, but in a good facility, you won't be thrown out there on your own before you are ready. No one wants you to fail, and they are going to be as dedicated to making it a positive experience as you are!!

Carry a good brain sheet, ask questions whenever you don't know something. Keep your med surg text book close at home to look up anything you may not have fully understood during your shift, and you should be fine!

wayfinder · Jan 2, 2015

Thank you @scaredsilly! I find hearing about other people's stories helps me out.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Jan 2, 2015

Also remember that while an orientation is going to provide a lot of clinical information and practice, it is not meant to be a rehash of nursing school. If you don't remember/know the fundamentals of nursing, dig out your textbooks and start brushing up on them.

Best of luck at your new job!

wayfinder · Jan 6, 2015

Thank you for your tips! After learning the layout of orientation from the first day today, I am feeling less nervous. But I'm sure my nerves will spike up again once I'm onto the floor