Making Changes in Nursing by Developing the New Grad Nurse

How can this traditional system change?

I remember the days of “Nursing” when there were more jobs available than nurses. We now are living in the time that there are more nurses than there are jobs (at least in New York).

I have become very concerned about this as the nurses that are graduating from nursing schools are lacking the experience they need to be able to jump into these roles.

I’m not sure if it’s the nursing process or basics, common sense or being only book smart, but there’s something missing. I do not believe it’s “the drive” as there are many new graduates who truly are hungry to gain the experience they need to succeed in their field.

However, if they have a basic knowledge of the nursing process but lack the “drive”, the personality or respect that makes them “stand out” from the crowd, it can and will cause a major obstacle in the successful match of the right opportunity.

In today’s clinical settings the seniority of the nurses who are present are starting to become an issue. Is it burn out? Is it time for them to change their direction to a non-clinical role? I have personally observed nurses who should not be practicing nursing anymore. It is a true disadvantage to the patient.

It is imperative that hospitals are open-minded to replace these resources with a younger crop of nurses. However, the quality of the newer nurses does worry me.

Evaluating This Dilemma:

I have created a system which can ensure these nurses to build skills so it may open some doors for them. However, most of the facilities will not give these nurses an opportunity without a foundation of experience prior to starting.

Within Horizon’s Acute Care Division, we meet approximately 5 to 10 RNs per day all looking for that hospital opportunity which they cannot get without having clinical experience. They say, “How can I get the experience if I am not given a job”?

In addition, there are at least hundreds of nurses that are looking for work in a hospital at many of the job fairs that we attend. Nursing schools condition their students that they must have a hospital job within a medical surgical area.

The Problem:

Overtime we will start to find that the “old school” nurse will vacate their position/role and they will not have nurses able to replace them.

The Solution:

I feel that there is a creative approach to establishing the home grown registered nurse for these acute-care opportunities. At Horizon Healthcare Staffing, my acute-care division creatively prepares the registered nurse for these type of opportunities. Initially, we start with various wellness programs and clinics and other health care settings to be able to prepare the nurse for some basic time management skills and basic medication administration and clinical skills.

Then, the opportunities soon arise based on professionalism, time management, availability and competencies. We then identify these key resources for some hospital clinic opportunities and an introduction to other disciplines and more. This is how WE HELP the experience start to build.

MOST of my nurses land PERMANENT hospital based roles after working with us!

I know it’s due to the platform we offer them!

In the past five years we’ve had the opportunity to successfully grow our own registered nurse program philosophy with this methodology. I am pleased to have a large pool of nurses working and converting to permanent roles. The new opportunities are endless.

I find that hand selecting nurses for this path is proven to be a successful process for these nurses and our relationship with these organizations.

The organizations know the screening and credentialing process in which we place the nurses through. The personal interview we complete is quite thorough. Each phase of the clearance and credentialing process identifies which of these resources are appropriate to submit for interview and selection.

Since the hospital, the acuity of the patient, and nurse to patient ratio has significantly increased over the last 15 years, it is quite important for the nurses to know and be prepared to be able to handle this type of setting.

At Horizon Healthcare Staffing, we are proud of the resources we have helped create, which in turns lets us offer them to our client. This is how each selected nurse can gain these clinical opportunities more than ever before!

Nancy Goldstein MA, RNC