ALL FOR ONE Getting current staff involved in the training of new hires helps build a cohesive staff.

Nothing's worse than watching a new hire walk out the door for good after you've spent so much time and money hiring and training her. But how do you get new hires to stick around for the long haul? As you'll see, tailoring your orientation program to their specific needs and asking current staff members to make them feel welcome can help ensure you bring aboard knowledgeable, dedicated employees who'll stick around.

Make the facility welcoming
Advise existing staff, physicians and ancillary service members of the name, role and start date of new hires. If possible, arrange lunch meetings before the first day between preceptors and the new hires to whom they've been assigned.

Contact new employees to confirm where and when they should report on the first day. If possible, give them a tour of your facility before their start dates so they can familiarize themselves with the work areas. Also use these visits to introduce new hires to the preceptors who'll be mentoring them. Explain time-keeping practices, locker room assignments and the location of important supplies or documents. Provide a copy of the surgery-specific orientation manual that contains an organizational chart, job descriptions and expected outcomes.

Try to have new employees' e-mails and temporary passwords set up, tested and ready to go on day one. Ensure all documents that are needed for orientation are up to date. On the first day of employment, the preceptor or surgical unit educator should review weekly assignments and expected milestones. Clearly communicate your expectations for the first day and the first 6 weeks of employment. Use the first weeks of initial orientation to explain how each position in the surgical arena is related to the other roles in the department. Also review HR and administration procedures.

VETERAN VOICE
Assign Mentors From the Start

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT Mentors share the insider's information that isn't found in employee handbooks.

Encourage new hires to have mentors as well as preceptors. Mentoring is an excellent way to involve several staff members in the orientation process. Mentors can interact in more informal ways, educating new hires about your facility's values, unwritten expectations and norms. They should be senior members of your team who proactively seek out opportunities to share information and gauge the progress of new staff members. They should help foster relationships with the current staff to increase the number of individuals from whom new hires can glean information or guidance during their first weeks on the job.

— JM and MM

Make learning manageable
Conveying a substantial amount of information in a limited amount of time is a significant challenge for you and for newly hired employees, who must process it all. Unit-specific orientation introduces your new hires to their roles, co-workers and the organization. Building that level of comfort takes a tremendous amount of time, a precious commodity in surgical facilities. Many facility leaders believe new hires can figure out what they need to on the run. That's simply not the case. Taking the time to properly orient new hires pays off on the back end, since employee retention rates increase, which saves time and money in the long run.

New hires can easily become overwhelmed with the information each clinical area determines is important. Keep the initial orientation focused on the learning activities that an employee needs in order to feel equipped and prepared to provide safe patient care.

Moving forward, allow time at the end of each day for preceptors and new hires to discuss the day's activities and goals for the next day and upcoming weeks. Keep the information that's provided to any new hire current and useful. Ease new hires into the orientation process so they receive only the information that's needed during each phase of training. After the first 6 weeks of training, however, it's time to move beyond the basics.

Designing a staged orientation process means new hires don't have to learn everything at once. It lets team members work together to welcome new hires and build a unit where the hierarchy among staff is not opposed to questioning individual practices. "This is the way we do it, because we have always done it that way" is not an accepted rationale for decision-making processes.

Finally, keep in mind that the orientation process is just that: a process. Review the program as often as you do your policies and procedures to ensure it remains up to date and effective.

Make first impressions count
New hires will carry initial work experiences throughout their perioperative careers, so use the orientation period to welcome them to the team by designing all activities from their perspective.

A systematic orientation program provides the information necessary to make new employees feel comfortable with your organization. The educators, preceptors and leaders in your facility must understand that providing new hires with thorough and informative orientation is key to positive patient outcomes. Developing a quality orientation program is both time-consuming and demanding, but once implemented, your entire organization will benefit from its success.

WELCOME ADVICE Effective orientation programs will form bonds between new hires and experienced staffers.

TEAM BUILDING
5 Keys to Orientation Success

1. Socialization of the new hire to the unit's and facility's values and culture.
2. Sharing of the unit's and facility's missions.
3. Building a relationship between the new hire, unit staff and managers.
4. Development of preceptors who model professional behaviors.
5. Training staff to a level of competence so that they can directly and indirectly allay fears or anxiety in patients.

— JM and MM