NurseWeek News

Learning Curve
New graduates offer fresh perspectives on recruitment, retention

By Beth Ulrich, Ed.D., RN, South Central Editor
December 16, 2002

Our project to follow 35 new graduate nurses from around the country continues and, in this issue, part two of our series focuses on their search for jobs and their first few months in practice. Even in the short amount of time since graduation, several trends/themes/messages have become apparent that can teach us how to better recruit and retain new graduates. Although many of our graduates have had positive experiences since graduation, others have not; so there is room for improvement.

Today's new graduates are increasingly more sophisticated in knowing what to look for in a position. They talk to employees and past patients. Many are astute at assessing compensation packages. They also are observant when being interviewed or touring nursing units, looking for signs of teamwork, communication and openness to new graduates.
Externships and part-time jobs for students in nursing school are worthwhile investments for any organization. The students in our project who participated in such activities appeared to become more confident in their clinical abilities more quickly and already felt a part of the organization before they had to make a decision about where to work after graduation. When it came time to look for their first RN position, these students most often opted to stay where they had worked as students.
Surprisingly, in an era of a nursing shortage when we should be heavily recruiting new graduates, the new graduates in our project who interviewed for RN positions (and kept diaries on each interview) too often experienced interviewers who were late for scheduled interviews, did not appear to be engaged in the interview process, seemed disorganized and did not follow up with the applicant. Occasionally, the interviewers even made promises about compensation, work units and benefits that were not kept when the new graduate reported to work.
New graduates are excited and scared, and both emotions need support from experienced nurses. They also frequently feel inadequate in their clinical abilities, sometimes for what seem like the simplest things to experienced nurses, such as starting IVs or tying restraints. Internships, consistent preceptors and experienced nurses who take them under their wings have a major effect on how successfully new graduates navigate their first few months on the job and how they view their own competence and confidence.
Our new graduates also say that they wish they had had more education and experience while in school on the roles of various health care providers (MDs, LVNs, nursing assistants), how to better communicate with these individuals, documentation and charting (as done for real in the hospital), time management when taking a full patient load and how to know what to do for a patient when there is only what's in your head and no one is giving you multiple choice options.

As we welcome the new nurses who graduate this month, let's remember what this group of new graduates has shared with us. As one of them so eloquently said, "The most wonderful feeling is knowing that there are people around you who support you and are there to help you. The more encouragement I get, the better I can function as a nurse."

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