Year long New Grad Residency VS Short Orientation to floor? [POLL INCLUDED]

I'm currently a nursing student set to graduate from my BSN program in Dec 2015. I am very interested in working at Ben Taub hospital in Houston largely due to the fact that it is a level I trauma center as well as a county hospital that provides services to a great amount of the under-served/impoverished populations of Houston (Great opportunity for vast experience). I know that I should probably get the ball rolling on applications so that I wont have to wait months and months after I graduate before I start seeing some income, but I'm curious as to what differences there are between new grads who go straight to the floor after a few months of orientation and new grads that participate in a residency program?

I feel as if my nursing program has thoroughly prepared me for the HESI/NCLEX, but as far as TRAINING me to become a nurse??? Not so much.

So, based on your experiences and what you know, which would offer a better transition from Student nurse to Registered nurse; New grad residency, or short Orientation to floor before being on my own?

****SORRY THIS WAS A LITTLE LONG WINDED.*****

Edited Jul 26, 2015 by 2k15NurseExtern4u

[TheBlackDogWaits]

First of all, most orientation periods (new grad or not) will most likely be

Secondly, as a new grad resident, I will be siding with the Residency bias. New Grad Residency programs are a relatively new concept.... so, you will probably be treated like the golden child in that particular program. You will also probably be trained in multiple skill sets - meaning you may be required to rotate to multiple units during your residency, learning how to address the needs of different types of patients, each unit probably a higher acuity than the last. This is awesome for a million reasons that I won't waste my time explaining because they're self-evident.

Unless, of course, you feel that you are way ahead of your peers and would opt to just jump right into a particular unit. In which case, I wish you all the best...

IMHO, though, I think it would be wise for residencies to be required for all new grads. I think new grads would learn a lot about what they like and dislike this way, and turnover in acute care (or anywhere, for that matter) wouldn't suffer quite so much.

[Libby1987]

At face value this seems to be a trick question.

[TheBlackDogWaits]

What's tricky about it?

[2k15NurseExtern4u, BSN, RN]

At face value this seems to be a trick question.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is which would have a better outcome for the new nurse; going through a Year long new grad residency OR skipping the residency and just applying for a floor position with an orientation that's likely to last less than 6 months before I'm out on the floor on my own.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN, CNS]

Moved for more answers