New nursing orientation and retention - Essay Example

New Nursing Orientation and Retention Introduction Orientation is an important as post-graduate nursing practice. One would think that right after school, a trained nurse should be in a position to go about his or her duty with very minimal assistance or support but this is wrong. Realizing that each institution that a nurse may work in have its own set of standard and organizational culture, the Mayo Clinic (2011) observes that nursing orientation “is a comprehensive, interactive program designed to help new nursing professionals develop skills required to deliver and maintain high-quality patient care.

”Current Situation Presently, the orientation program in place seems to be achieving very little for graduate nurses. The program seems highly cumbersome and manual. This means that each nurse has so much at hand to deal with. This makes it very difficult for the new nurses to master anything. This is because they are forced to learn a little of many things at a time. New Model There is the need for a new orientation model that is more competent and safe towards the nursing needs of graduate nurses; especially for emergency situations.

The major objective of this new model should be able to play a role of helping nurses transit from recent graduates to professional nursing practitioners. It is suggested that the following topics be treated under the orientation for nurses under the Emergency Department:Personal communicationInfection controlQuality assurance managementPatient safety assuranceInformation and communication technologyCorporate decision makingClinical skills reviewMedication administrationEmergency responsesDue to the intensity of the orientation model, it is suggested that the timeline for the delivery of the whole program be nine (9) months instead of the usual six (6) months usually practiced in most nursing institutions.

Below are excerpts of what the new model should be made up of.Stage 1: Three (3) months of structured orientation where by graduate nurses will be prepared exclusively under the care of a trained preceptor. Three months is suggested for this stage because of the fact that nurses are being prepared for emergency situations. This period will give the graduates a lot of mentorship to ensure that once they are detached, they can do a lot for themselves with the least aid.Stage 2: One (1) month of classroom based tuition and lecturing.

It is highly recommended that as much as trained nursing tutors would come in to give lectures, a lot of the time be devoted for peer nurse learning. This is recommended because it would give the graduates a lot of time to freely express themselves and share ideas from their individual institutions that may be necessary for onward practice. Stage 3: This is the final stage and should be made up of five (5) months of individualized orientation and practice. At this stage, each nurse should be in a position to handle a lot of the cases that comes up and are reported with very minimal assistance.

It is highly recommended that at this stage, the graduates be given a lot of opportunity to interact with modern information and technology tools as these are sure to make their work more efficient, effective and easier to deliver.Conclusion More and more institutions are taking advantage of information and communication technology and nursing cannot be left behind. A lot of the orientation schedules if would be centered on the use of basic information and communication tools would help eradicate the cumbersomeness of the orientation programs and help graduates adopt to issues faster.

REFERENCE LISTProulx, Donna M. and Bethany J. Bourcier, Bethaby J. Graduate Nurses in the Intensive Care Unit: An Orientation Model. 2008. Web. February 11, 2012. Mayo Clinic. Nursing Graduate Orientation Program at Mayo Clinic. 2011. Web. February 12, 2012.