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Basic Nursing Boot Camp
For recent nurse graduates, the first few months working in a hospital environment can be very intimidating.
To help new and returning nurses transition into a full-time nursing position, UCSD Medical Center offers Basic Nursing Boot Camp (BNBC), a three-session training course that covers everything from emergency codes to learning proper IV insertion. “At Boot Camp, nurses can ask questions without feeling intimidated,” said Scotti Grant, Clinical Nurse Educator at UCSD Medical Center.
“This year, we held 8 sessions concentrated around historically high volume new graduate orientation times,” said Grant. Class enrollment varies from 5 to 20 nurses per session.
BNBC was created in response to an orientation survey that showed new nurses needed more time to train and learn about hospital equipment and protocols, while experienced nurses desired a consolidated, self-paced orientation. In response to the needs, a self-paced, internet based general nursing orientation has been implemented for all nurses. The self-paced orientation includes a welcome reception, regulatory requirements and hospital-specific standards. In addition to self-paced orientation, new graduates are also offered BNBC. The camp is not limited to new nurses; the review is also helpful to returning nurses who need to brush up on their skills.
During BNBC, nurses learn about the Power of Excellence, the Magnet Journey, performance standards, improvement initiatives and basic skills. Experienced nurses lead presentations as part of the clinical ladder, a step-based promotion system. Organizational leaders, such as Andrea Snyder, Director or Performance Improvement and Patient Safety, also present in their area of expertise.
“Many of the nursing units have implemented unit-based educators as well, and the overall message we are trying to send is that we care about the quality of their orientation and we want the new and returning nurses to be prepared, comfortable, and happy,” said Grant.
Boot Camp, coupled with Onboarding, the Magnet accreditation journey, and nurses having an overall positive feeling about UCSD Medical Center, has proven to be making a difference in nursing turnover numbers. “Last year by this time, we had lost ten new grads. Currently, we’ve only lost two,” said Grant.
“With the success of 2007 behind us, we are planning for bigger and better things in 2008. Based on feedback from 2007 participants, a new and improved Boot Camp will be implemented in January of 2008,” said Grant.