Lengthening Orientation for New Graduates or Hiring Seasoned Nurses into Critcal Care

Introduction: Research supports seasoned Registered Nurses (RN) working in Critical Care (CCU) areas. RNs with greater than three years of experience have the organizational skills, time management skills and nursing instincts that are needed in the CCU setting. Turnover rates appear to be higher in new RN graduates entering CCU. Patient acuity is consistently high with different alarms and equipment not seen on medical surgical unit. Many factors affect job turnover rate. One factor is the type of orientation the RN has had to the CCU. Problem Statement: New graduate RNs lack the organizational skills, time management skills and nursing instinct to be successful in the ICU. If orientation is unable to be lengthy and consistent, seasoned nurses with greater than three years critical care experience need to be hired. Research Question: Would the turnover rate decrease with longer, consistent orientation periods for new graduates or by hiring seasoned nurses? Hypothesis: Hiring seasoned nurses and increasing orientation length, content and consistency for new graduate RNs would indeed decrease the turnover rate. Methodology: A qualitative pilot study will be conducted through administering a self-report survey of ten questions to a convenience sample of RNs representing a variety of years of experience. Results: It is expected the results will support that hiring new graduates into Critical Care demands a longer, consistent orientation period than exists today. If longer, consistent orientation periods are not supported, then seasoned nurses should be hired