Nursing Orientation Program Builder: Essential Tools for Onboarding, Orientation, and Transition to Practice

Diana Swihart, PhD, DMin, MSN, APN CS, RN-BC, FAAN
Solimar Figueroa, PhD, MSN, MHA, BSN, RN, P-PCA

The onboarding process can be a make or break period for a new employee. Nursing Orientation Program Builder will help elevate and accelerate this process, reduce the risk of losing new employees, and assist fresh hires to become productive team members. This book provides definitions, tools, and evidence-based strategies and resources to help organizations recruit and retain the best-qualified employees. It supplies a comprehensive onboarding and orientation program, along with methods to measure integration into service and practice.

This book will help you:

• Develop a thorough and efficient onboarding process
• Accelerate the onboarding process
• Ensure successful candidate selection

About the Authors:

Diana Swihart, PhD, DMin, MSN, APN CS, FAAN, is a consulting partner with the Forum for Shared Governance and the CEO and Managing Partner for the American Academy for Preceptor Advancement, enjoys many roles in her professional career, practicing in widely diverse clinical and nonclinical settings. An author, speaker, researcher, educator, and consultant, she has published and spoken nationally and internationally on a number of topics related to servant leadership, preceptors, shared governance, new employee onboarding and orientation, competency assessment, professional development, Magnet Recognition Program®, research, and evidence-based practice.

Solimar Figueroa, PhD, MSN, MHA, BSN, RN, P-PCA, brings more than 30 years of experience in her professional nursing practice. Now a Clinical Educator II in her current hospital-based position, her practice emanated from the Philippines, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Michigan, and Florida. Dr. Figueroa’s experience includes operating room nurse, operating room in-charge nurse, director of nursing, chief nursing officer, assistant director of nursing, clinical educator, director clinical services, and certified preceptor specialist. 

Published: December 2016

Page Count: 388
Dimensions: 8.5 X 11
ISBN: 978-1-68308-132-6

Table of Contents

Part I: Onboarding Processes

• Chapter 1: Processing New Employees
• Chapter 2: Pre-Hire Activities
• Job Descriptions
• Recruitment
• Screening
• Peer Interviews
• Chapter 3: Preceptorships 
• Preceptorships for New Employees
• Selecting and Preparing Preceptors
• Matching Preceptors and New Employees
• Feedback and Evaluation

Part II: Onboarding Processes: Organization and Service-Specific Activities

A. Organization Orientation

• Chapter 4: Organizing and Facilitating Organization Onboarding Processes
• Identifying Goals and Objectives
• Engaging the Workforce: Curriculum and Content
• Frequency and Timeline of Organization Orientation Activities
• Chapter 5: Quality and Safety
• Quality and Safety Considerations for New Employees
• Dashboards and Scorecards for Collecting and Managing Data
• Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle
• Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
• Lean Six Sigma (LSS)
• Chapter 6: Regulatory Agencies and Mandatory Requirements 
• Organization and Service-Specific Policies and Procedures
• The Joint Commission (TJC)
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
• Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (ACA)
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Standards
• Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF)
• Other Regulatory Requirements for New Employees

B. Service-Specific Onboarding

• Chapter 7: Creating Service-Specific Orientations
• Bridging the Gaps: Organization, Service-Specific, and Area or Unit Onboarding Processes and Orientation Activities
• Preparing New Employees for Service and Unit-Level Onboarding Processes
• Strategies and Tools
• Rubric for Documenting Process and Employee Development
• Chapter 8: Competency-Based Orientation Activities in Practice Settings 
• Competency-Based Orientation (CBO) Activities
• Evidence: Evidence-Based Practice and Practice-Based Evidence Applied to New Employee Orientation Activities
• Strategies and Tools
• Wright’s Decision Tool for Competency Assessment
• Chapter 9: Simulations in New Employee Onboarding Processes 
• Using Simulation Equipment
• Simulations When Equipment Is Limited
• Strategies, Tools, and Case Studies for Simulations With and Without Special Equipment
• Chapter 10: Evidence-Based Practice, Critical Thinking, Clinical Judgment, and Priorities
• Critical Thinking: Organization and Priorities
• Clinical Judgment
• Concept Maps, Strategies, and Tools
• Chapter 11: Leadership: Authority, Accountability, Ownership, and Delegation 
• Managers and Leaders: What’s the Difference?
• Working With Organization Leaders, Unit Managers, and Charge Nurse Leaders
• •Accountability and responsibility
• •Levels of authority and shared decision-making
• •Rounding and reports
• Beyond Authority: Strategies and Tools for Assessing and Developing Leadership Skills and Attributes in New Employees
• Chapter 12: Interprofessional and Team-Based Onboarding
• Team-Based Onboarding: Team Building With New Employees
• Working With Interprofessional Partners
• Working With Organization and Service-Specific Interdisciplinary Team Members
• Integrating New Employees Into Unit-Level Teams
• Chapter 13: Supporting New Graduate Employees 
• Academic Preparation and Continuing Education Requirements
• Bridging the Gap: Residencies, Internships, and Preceptorships
• Transition From Academia to Practice
• Strategies and Tools
• Chapter 14: Evaluating Outcomes of Onboarding Processes and Orientation Activities
• Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick’s Evaluation Model
• Measuring Satisfaction, Knowledge Acquisition, and Behavior
• Evaluating Outcomes: Satisfaction, Analysis, and Influence:
• Onboarding process
• Orientation activities/events
• Preceptorship
• New graduate support program
• Analyzing Program Expectations, Statistical Data, and Program Improvements
• Tips for Building and Improving New Employee Programs 
• Chapter 15: Mentorships
• From Preceptorship to Mentorship: What Changes?
• Mentor Role and Process
• Matching Mentors and New Employees
• Mentoring Rewards and Risks
• What Happens When Mentorships Fail to Progress

Part III: After Onboarding and Orientation: Processes to Improve Transition to Practice

• Chapter 16: Communication Skills and Barriers
• Models and Aggressive, Assertive, and Passive Approaches to Communication
• Principles of Communication
• Verbal Communication Skills
• Nonverbal Communication Skills
• Diversity Considerations in Communication: Culture, Language, Gender, Generation
• Managing Conflicts
• Strategies and Tools
• Chapter 17: Ethical Dilemmas and Legal Considerations 
• Model, Principles, and Policies: Ethics for New Employees
• Legal Considerations When Onboarding and Orienting New Employees
• Strategies and Tools
• Chapter 18: Culture and Diversity: Foreign-Educated Employees 
• Demographics and Recruitment Process
• Recruitment of Foreign-Educated Employees: Ethical and Considerations
• Onboarding and Orienting Foreign-Educated Employees
• Chapter 19: Stress Management and Change 
• Change Process
• Reality Shock
• Stress Management and Self-Care
• Chapter 20: A Chapter for Educators and Professional Development Specialists
• Evidence-Based Practice
• Competencies
• Needs Assessments
• Planning
• Implementation
• Program Evaluation
• Special Considerations for Onboarding Programs and Orientation Activities
• Associations and Committees
• Chapter 21: Tips for Building and Improving New Employee Programs

BIBLIOGRAPHY