Strengthening the Orientation Process

Strengthening the Nurse Orientation Process

Strengthening the orientation process

The healthcare management has been recording increasing developments of shortage of the human resource. This worrying trend has severed the health facilities to near grounding their functioning and purpose. However, research and interviews have attributed this trend to factors related to the orientation programs (Christmas, 2008). Most orientation schedules have been faulty in delivering the desired attention in the practicing interim nurses so that they can remain in the unit of practice. For this reason, the role of the nurse leader is being questioned. How is the nurse leadership role effective in overseeing the nurse orientation process? In my role as a nurse leader, it is my initiative to ensure that the orientation schedule in my unit is effective.

To strengthen the nurse orientation process, there are certain key aspects that I will stress. These areas include the assessment section, communication, workload, diagnostics, emergency response, safety, equipment, and professional practice and development. There are the sections that determine the willingness of the nurse to remain in the unit once the orientation process is over. A well developed orientation program will focus on the expected working areas; therefore, it will be staff-oriented (Charleston, Hayman, Ryan & Happell, 2007).

In the orientation, the working time schedule is quite fixed. This is too regulatory to the nurses as they are forced to operate on a fixed schedule. While a working schedule is essential to maintain order, the staffing and scheduling options allow for a working schedule that accommodates the personnel. Therefore, the orientation program will be revised in terms of the working time to flex the time that the nurses work. While accomplishing this, the nurses will still work for the same length of period as required, but at the most convenient working timetable (Charleston, Hayman, Ryan & Happell, 2007). Moreover, in the staffing issue, I will ensure supplemental staffing in groups of orientation. This will ensure that the nurses are not burdened in terms of the workload. This way, they will practice their skills effectively, without getting tired. This will motivate the nurses to develop a positive attitude to remain in my unit, hence reducing the turnover costs.

Secondly, in the nursing orientation program, I will introduce an exercise that will help grow their personal and professional development in nursing and nursing leadership. This opportunity will ensure that the nurses develop a positive attitude towards their professional skill and develop personally. (Charleston, Hayman, Ryan & Happell, 2007). I will achieve this by introducing a job delegating plan in the orientation program. Delegation is especially applicable when the employee is assigned to an RN on the unit. In this delegation plan, I will identify the capable nurses for duty and effectively outline the expected goals from the nurses. It will also allow for a proper assessment of the nurses, and this will earn the nurses the required confidence and skills to engage in the field without fear. In delegating, I will also set deadline programs in which the nurses will assess their ability to work within a limited time; hence their efficiency will be significantly improved. Delegating will also increase the liability of the employee. However, to ensure safety, the program will need effective and close monitoring to ensure the employees still meet the professional requirements and they function safely.

The last section that I will like to improve to ensure effective orientation process of the employees is to introduce a workload measurement tool, which will go in hand with another section of appreciation of the employee (Charleston, Hayman, Ryan & Happell, 2007). This workload measurement will enable us to calculate the nursing care hours per patient in a day. This is useful in growing efficiency on the part of employee and, therefore, achieving the desired goal at the end of the orientation program. The last is to ensure that I implement the orientation program fully, and review and revise it based on evidence from facts and not the complaints from patients or other parties; since the orientation process is dynamic.

The nurse orientation process is a significant aspect in assessing and developing a database of nurses for the nurses. This will ensure that the unit does not luck. However, there is another related aspect that helps immensely in assessing the significance of nurse retention. This includes the costs related to the nurse turnover. Nurse turnover is linked to the nurse retention by the costs incurred when there is no effective nurse retention (Christmas, 2008). Nurse turnover has become a recurrent issue in the health care industry. The nurse retention is, therefore, the only effective means to combat negative nurse turnover.

Nurse turnover of the registered nurses is heightened when there are shortages of nurses in the facility. The issue arises from both economic and non-economic view point. Nurse turnover expenditure in the United States has risen in the past years. These costs have been associated to different reasons. These include expenses on various activities that result in times of shortage of nurses. Such activities that increase the cost include, advertising and recruiting process for the nurses, the orientation and training costs; decreased productivity, inadequate organizational knowledge, compromised quality of care, and vacancy costs, such as paying agency nurses and overtime and also additional turnover (Jones & Gates, 2007). The direct costs are attributed to a direct activity.