Nursing orientation and the onboarding process can have a significant impact on employee engagement and therefore employee satisfaction and retention and is a crucial part of preparing nurses for their role at St. Bernard’s. Through lectures and hands on skills training, attending our two week nursing orientation equips nurses with the knowledge base needed to move into their positions of patient care. 

The first week of orientation includes a day of broad general topics about the function of the hospital itself and roles of leadership. Then the nurses will move into the next four days of nursing roles which include learning policies and procedures, patient care, hands-on skills training with various equipment, and learning the appropriate documentation process in meditech.

The second week of orientation is a basic arrhythmia class, required for most nurses. This class is to equip nurses to be more proficient in reading rhythms. Also, the second week includes department specific training for each nurse and an LPN class to distinguish roles between RN’s and LPN’s.

After orientation each nurse will be assigned a preceptor from their floor to train specifically for the patient population on that floor. Orientation with the preceptor varies depending on the department itself.