Title
Date of Award
Fall 12-24-2020
Document Type
Independent Study
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Nursing
Program Affiliation
Nurse Educator (NE)
First Advisor
Kris Hendrickx
Abstract
Traditional undergraduate training focuses heavily on clinical skills with minimal emphasis on leadership. In practice, a nurse with clinical prowess is often promoted to the charge nurse position. Taking on the leadership role of a charge nurse can be a stressful experience without proper training and preparation that leads to burnout and turnover. With more experienced nurses facing retirement, now is the time to prepare future nursing leaders. This starts with adequately preparing a nurse to lead within the unit in the charge nurse role. A comprehensive literature review was conducted regarding charge nurse orientation. Charge nurse competencies were not conclusive, but there is a common trend. This nurse needs to develop knowledge, skills and attitudes in organizational functioning, clinical knowledge, interpersonal dynamics, and cognitive processing. Orientation includes didactic and interactive teaching strategies based on adult learning theory. Successful orientation should include mentoring with an experienced charge nurse. Organizations that support mentoring and continue to develop leaders, grow leaders from within. Training has a financial consideration for an organization that can be mitigated with a thorough orientation. Charge nurse orientation improves job satisfaction, manager and physician satisfaction, decreases stress and improves patient outcomes mitigating the financial impact. Orientation has positive impacts on the novice charge nurse, unit, organization and patients.
Recommended Citation
Zafke, Angela, "Charge Nurse Orientation" (2020). Nursing Capstones. 284.
https://commons.und.edu/nurs-capstones/284