I absolutely love this time of year! I get excited about having all our new nurses on campus. Looking back, I’m so glad my experiences as a new graduate nurse were a far cry from what things look like now.
When I graduated from UCA in the early ‘90s, I had to relocate to Fort Smith to find a job. I was thrilled to get a job on a Neurology/Urology unit on the 3p-11p shift, rotating only every other weekend! Team nursing was the model, and I had a great LPN named Charlotte who oriented me for three months.
When I completed my first 90 days, I was deemed ready to take care of patients. Boy, was I terrified! Fortunately, I was blessed with a team who had my back, and, as nurses do, I continued to learn something new every day. Ultimately, I not only survived but thrived in this environment.
When I think about the things that are the same now, one thing that comes to mind is the limited preparation nursing students receive in their training before graduation. No matter how great the program is, the clinical exposure and hands-on experiences are limited, and the bulk of true clinical training happens during onboarding as a new RN.
This places a significant responsibility on the institutions that are hiring new grads. Thankfully, how we train new graduate RNs has evolved a great deal since I was a new grad. Most hospitals now have some type of residency and no longer consider 90 days an adequate amount of time to prepare new nurses. UAMS has done a great job of establishing a program that supports new RNs for their entire first year and ensuring that they all receive comprehensive area-based training.
Preceptors and team members can make or break the experience for new grads. I urge you to think about your own pathway to nursing. Think about what went well, the challenges you faced, and how you can help ensure the new nurses you are working with benefit from your experience.
There’s a ton of literature out there that confirms what we all know from personal experience. The successful transition of new nurses hinges upon interpersonal and institutional factors that are outside of their control. We must fulfill our responsibility to these new nurses, our teams, and our patients by meeting their needs the best we can.
How do we do this? It’s not rocket science, nor is it all spelled out in a cookie-cutter fashion. In my mind, it’s relatively simple and comes down to these basic elements:
- Be a good role model. Don’t practice “do what I say, not what I do.” Don’t cut corners on safety or basic care expectations. New nurses are sponges and are looking to you as their guide for how to be a “good” nurse. Don’t let them down. It’s not about perfection — it’s about integrity, diligence, and ethical practice.
- Be kind and care about them as a person as well as a nurse. We all have different personalities, and some of us are more nurturing and patient than others. That said, our UAMS code of conduct promotes collegiality and respect, and this can’t be compromised. New nurses will not stay in an environment where teams tear each other down and don’t work together. This is scary to them (and to me). They need to realize that, even if we aren’t all best friends, our common goal to give the best possible care to our patients supersedes everything else.
- Make their success your priority and take pride in their accomplishments. We all have people in our lives that we will never forget – some for good reasons, and others for bad. Be the person the new nurse will always remember as the one they knew had their best interest at heart (like my gratitude for Charlotte). Look for the clinical experiences they need to have and help them navigate these successfully. Integrate them into the interdisciplinary team and their work family. Make them feel part of Team UAMS. Let them know it’s OK to be nervous and even make mistakes — that you’ll be there to help minimize these and ensure the right lessons are learned.
Your contribution to the “greater good of nursing” goes well beyond your own individual practice. The very nature of our profession is based on growing the next nurse and paving the way for those who will be taking care of us in the future. You make an impact on your patients and their families every day. The impact you make on your team (especially new nurses) is equally important.
I am confident our UAMS nurses are up to the task of bringing on this team of new graduates, and I can’t wait to watch them grow and thrive under your leadership and example.
Be on the lookout for our new grad nurses. They are excited, eager, and nervous all at the same time. Even more than 30 years out, I still remember those feelings. I hope you will take a moment to think back to the earliest days of your nursing career. Use those memories to frame your interactions and support for our newest nurses.
Tammy Jones, PHD, RN, NE-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
Associate Vice Chancellor for Patient Care Services & Clinical Operations
Perioperative, Interventional & Imaging Services Division