Question: How Would You Strengthen This Orientation Process?

As a new head nurse, one of your goals is to reduce attrition. You plan to do this by increasing retention, thus reducing costs for orienting new employees. In addition, you believe that the increased retention will provide you with a more stable staff. In studying your notes from exit interviews, it appears that new employees seldom develop a loyalty to the unit but instead use the unit to gain experience for other positions. You believe that one difficulty with socializing new employees might be your unit's orientation program. The agency allows 2 weeks of orientation time (80 hours) when the new employee is not counted in the nursing care hours. These are referred to as nonproductive hours and are charged to the education department. Your unit has the following 2-week schedule for new employees:

Following this 2-week orientation, the new employee is expected to function at 75% productivity for 2 or 3 weeks and then perform at full productivity. The exception to this is the new graduate (RN) orientation. These employees spend one extra week on 7 AM to 3 PM and one extra week assigned to their particular shift before being counted as staff. Your nursing administrator has stated that you may alter the orientation program in any way you wish as long as you do not increase the nonproductive time and you ensure that the employee receives information necessary to meet legal requirements and to function safely.

ASSIGNMENT: Is there any way for you to strengthen the new employee orientation to your unit? Outline your plans (if any), and state the rationale for your decision.