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Orientation for new to practice RNs on med-surg hospital units.

By Kelly Marsh posted 08-31-2018 09:04

  
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01-13-2020 09:06

At my hospital we orient new nurses for 12 weeks. Then, if you change departments, you can get another 12 weeks if the position was different than what you were doing.

01-08-2019 14:43

I am new to this board but I knew since you last posted these comments you have moved on. I realized it depends on what state you are working in, what hospital and the goal of the said hospital or unit. On my unit,  for a new nurse it is 6 wks, more wks for a few others. If a nurse came from another hospital it is 2-4 wks. But how are you nurses progressing since? Sorry to hear those who leave because of little support.

10-31-2018 15:01

​My daughter just received her BSN from the University of San Francisco.  She passed her NCLEX and is working part-time for a group of Workman's Comp Physicians while waiting for a new grad program at a hospital based settings.  Please send information about New Grad Programs in the Bay Area.

10-14-2018 11:28

​I am the Director on the Surgical Ortho Unit in Lawton, Oklahoma and we orient new grads for 12 weeks. We have a weekly dialog with both the preceptor and the new hire to ensure nurses are progressing appropriately. We always want to make sure our nurses are practicing safely and our patients are received exceptional care at all times.

09-10-2018 08:55

I had two weeks on days and two weeks on nights. I was asked in my interview how long I think I needed to be up to FULL SPEED. I told them I thought at least three months. (I had a horrible experience with clinicals  i. e. really fending for myself). They told me I had 4 weeks. I’ve been at this company for two years. I’ve learned a lot because of the complex disease processes that we get, but I’m happy to be leaving. Very unsupportive environment for me.

09-10-2018 08:55

I had two weeks on days and two weeks on nights. I was asked in my interview how long I think I needed to be up to FULL SPEED. I told them I thought at least three months. (I had a horrible experience with clinicals  i. e. really fending for myself). They told me I had 4 weeks. I’ve been at this company for two years. I’ve learned a lot because of the complex disease processes that we get, but I’m happy to be leaving. Very unsupportive environment for me.

09-10-2018 08:54

I had two weeks on days and two weeks on nights. I was asked in my interview how long I think I needed to be up to FULL SPEED. I told them I thought at least three months. (I had a horrible experience with clinicals  i. e. really fending for myself). They told me I had 4 weeks. I’ve been at this company for two years. I’ve learned a lot because of the complex disease processes that we get, but I’m happy to be leaving. Very unsupportive environment for me.

09-07-2018 10:31

I am a new nurse and had a 12 week orientation - 6 weeks on day shift, 6 weeks on overnight shift. There was an opportunity to reduce this time if  the new hire and preceptors felt the new hire was ready, and also an opportunity to have a longer orientation if new hire and/or preceptor felt that was needed (and with no feelings of inadequacy, and with an understanding of simply needing more time). I thought this was ideal and feel very lucky to be working in this environment.

09-04-2018 22:17

I’m at a rural health hospital working on a med surg floor. My orientation was 2 weeks. However, this is not the norm. I’m not sure why my orientation was so short. Possibly because they were extremely short staffed. We also have a nurse residency program that is mandatory for all recent graduates that is once a month that lasts for a year.

09-03-2018 05:34

I'm at a medium-sized (for Iowa) hospital and we had 2 months with a preceptor. As a completely brand-new nurse with only CNA experience behind me, I felt that a longer "apprenticeship" style relationship with an experienced nurse would have been better.  Not that I needed someone with me 24/7, but a weekly check-in and designated advisor on each shift would have reduced my stress and improved my practice.

09-01-2018 19:30

Hi Marsh, i am currently a new RN , with four years as LPN in Nursing home setting , recently started my full time job as RN in Med- surg floor in Hospital at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn NY. they gave me 3 months orientation , however by 6 weeks i felt confident to be on my own, due the fact really i have nursing experience. please take your time and voice when you dont things.

08-31-2018 09:07

For those of you in a hospital setting: Can you share what is the normal usual length of "on the floor with preceptor" orientation for new to practice nurses on your med/surg units?