GRADUATE NURSE
PROGRAM DESCRIPTOR
2006
GRADUATE NURSE PROGRAM
1. AIM OF PROGRAM
To provide a year of practice and activities that will assist the graduate nurse’s transition from a tertiary student into the role of a safe and competent Division One Registered Nurse
2. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
2.1 To provide the graduate nurse with appropriate clinical experience to support their development as a safe and competent nurse
2.2 To support the graduate nurse in setting and achieving their stated goals for each placement area
2.3 To support the graduate nurse in the achievement of the organisational goals for each placement department
2.4 To assist the graduate nurse to identify their professional development needs and to work collaboratively to devise strategies to meet these needs
2.5 To provide diverse opportunities for the graduate nurse to undertake activities and projects that will enhance their ethical and professional nursing practice
GRADUATE NURSE PROGRAM
3. GENERAL PROGRAM INFORMATION
3.1 Program Title
Graduate Nurse Program 3.2 Line of Responsibility
Graduate Nurse is responsible to the Director of Nursing through the relevant Nurse unit manager
3.3 Person Responsible for Co-ordination of program Education Services Manager
Clinical nurse educator Clinical Support Nurse
3.4 Responsibility within the Departments Departmental Preceptors
Nurse unit managers Clinical Support Nurse 3.5 Program Intake
1 intake per year in January / February Five positions for Colac Area Health
Two positions for Lorne Community Hospital 3.6 Duration of Program
53 weeks 3.7 Admission Criteria
Participants are required to be:
• Recent Graduate of an Accredited Division One Registered Nurse Program
• In possession of a current registration certificate issued by the Nurses Board of Victoria
• Admission to program is through:
1. The Computer Match process in association with personal interview.
2. Individual application, if positions are not filled by the Computer Match process.
3.8 Recognition
Successful graduates will be issued with a graduate nurse program certificate on completion of all requirements of graduate year program 3.9 Salary
According to Nurses (Victorian Health Services) Award 2000 YP1 and Registered Nurses EBA 2004
3.10 Hours of Duty
40 Hours per week (Plus Accumulated Days Off) Minimum of 32 hours per week by negotiation
GRADUATE NURSE PROGRAM
3.11 Leave Entitlements
Annual leave and other leave entitlements according to Nurses (Victorian Health Services) Award 2000 YP1
NB: One or two weeks annual leave may be requested by negotiation after six months of service.
This will be dependent on the staffing requirements of the department where the graduate nurse will be placed at the time leave are requested for.
3.12 Uniforms – Colac Area Health 3.12.1 Female:
• Navy Skirts / Slacks (2 provided for full time staff)
• White/Blue/Chambray printed blouse with service logo (3 blouses provided for full time staff)
• Navy vest / Cardigan / Jacket (provide own)
• Shoes will be navy lace up or slip-ons, no open toe shoes (provide own) 3.12.2 Male:
• Navy Trousers (2 provided for full time staff)
• White or Chambray Shirt (3 shirts provided for full time staff) • Navy Vest / Cardigan / Jacket (provide own)
• Shoes will be black or navy lace up or slip-ons, no open toe shoes (provide own)
3.13 Uniforms – Lorne Community Hospital
Lorne do not provide uniforms to their staff but have a corporate uniform to be worn by all nursing staff. Lorne do pay staff the award set uniform allowance. This uniform must be worn at both Lorne Community Hospital and at Colac Area Health. 3.14 Continued Employment
Continuation of employment beyond completion of graduate nurse program is not guaranteed, however, a number of Limited Tenure - Grade Two Year One positions exist within the service. Graduates are welcome to apply for one of these positions or for a position on Colac Area Health casual nurse bank.
GRADUATE NURSE PROGRAM
4. PROGRAM STRUCTURE 4.1 Length of Course
Fifty Three Weeks
4.2 Placement Departments
Placement departments are: Acute Care Unit, Day and Night Duty; Day Surgery Unit/Operating Suite Plus 2 Weeks supernumerary placements each in Home Nursing and Emergency Department also seven week placement at Lorne Community Hospital.
The breadth of experience gained from each placement department will foster the development of a sound and competent Registered Nurse Division 1.
Acute Care Unit
The Acute Services Department provides a wide range of services including acute medical and surgical care, obstetric care and intensive care with a 3 bed Special Care Unit. The range of services in this area includes obstetrics, general surgery, general medicine, urology, orthopaedics, gynaecology, eye surgery, paediatrics, and the requirements for general acute medical conditions and may include detoxification from alcohol and other drugs and can include psychiatric care.
Acute Care Unit rotations usually involve two day-duty and one night-duty placement. The graduate will experience care delivery over the continuum of care requirements.
Day Surgery Unit / Operating Suite
The Operating Suite at Colac Area Health consists of 2 operating theatres catering for a broad range of services including orthopaedic, gynaecological, urology, general,
ophthalmology and endoscopy. The Day Surgery Unit (DSU) is attached to the Operating Suite, it consists of seven trolleys and is routinely open Monday to Friday. Some 2000 patients a year attend this service. Most patients requiring elective surgery are admitted to DSU on the morning of their surgery and discharged home later that day. Some long-term patients are admitted direct to the Acute Care Unit following their discharge from Operating Suite.
This placement allows the graduate nurse the opportunity to experience perioperative patient care. It educates the graduate nurse about the variety and diversity of the role of the perioperative nurse and gives the opportunity to function clinically as the instrument (scrub) nurse, the circulating (scout) nurse, the anaesthetic nurse and the recovery room (PACU) nurse.
Home Nursing
Supernumerary Placement of two (2) weeks
Combines the Visiting Nursing Service with Hospital in the Home Program, supports the Palliative Nurse Consultant, Diabetes Nurse Educator roles. The range of services able to be experienced in the patient’s home includes: hospital in the home, acute care in the community, aged supportive care, palliative care and continence and the wound management programs.
Emergency Department
Supernumerary Placement of two (2) weeks
This is a first contact department and graduates will be able to experience emergency triage and the delivery of emergency care. They will participate in the variety of people and situations that attend the Emergency Department
GRADUATE NURSE PROGRAM
Lorne Community Hospital
Graduate nurses will have up to seven (7) weeks placement at Lorne Community Hospital in which they will be able to experience a range of nursing experiences including:
emergency first contact care, aged care, acute care and community based care dialysis and community based programs for all ages
Optional Placement - Aged Residential Care
Polwarth House is a 48-bed long-term aged care facility. It caters for frail or incapacitated aged people including those who experience dementia.
4.3 Support and Education 4.3.1 Orientation to Service
Orientation to the service will involve five days. This will comprise three days of general orientation and two days
supernumerary placement in the initial placement department. This will occur at both Colac Area Health and Lorne Community Hospital.
Day One
Day One is the Services Wide Orientation Day at Colac Area Health and will involve a member of the Executive Team, various members of staff who will discuss
relevant information for a new staff member to be aware of.
This day is to ensure that the participant is aware of the general aims and goals of Colac Area Health and to inform each new staff member of the emergency,
occupational and professional polices and procedures they should be aware of. The graduate will also learn how to access the various support staff within Colac Area Health.
Days Two and Three
Days Two and Three will consist of skill education and review, to ensure that the graduate nurse understands the equipment and procedures required by Colac Area Health and includes training in the No-Lift Techniques of patient handling. This will be followed by interviews explaining the role and expectation for graduate nurses within each of the placement departments by that department’s nurse unit manager
4.3.2 Orientation to Placement Areas
Days Four and Five
Specific departmental orientation will focus on the aspects of that area that all staff must know in order to provide safe and quality care within that particular department. To this end, on day four and five, graduate nurses will be supernumerary in their initial placement department where they will be under the supervision of their preceptor and supported by the clinical support nurse. To ensure that the graduate nurse experiences a smooth transition to each
department, the first day of each subsequent placement will be supernumerary.
GRADUATE NURSE PROGRAM
A preceptor1 from the department will be paired with the graduate nurse to assist integration into that department’s specific culture and routine.
The function of the preceptor is to assist the development and socialisation of the graduate into the role of Registered Nurse Division 1.
The preceptor, clinical support nurse and other departmental staff as required will provide departmental orientation.
• This will occur for each placement for each graduate nurse
• The graduate nurse will be placed with their preceptor and share a single caseload during the orientation period. This is to allow for a review of the graduate nurse’s experience and capabilities to ensure transition of practice within that department and to meet any of the graduate nurse’s needs for orientation or skill development necessary for that department.
• During this departmental orientation day, the graduate nurse in conjunction with the preceptor will establish his or her own specific goals and objectives for the placement period.
• The preceptor and clinical support nurse will discuss the general orientation goals and objectives for the placement and assist the graduate nurse to work through these requirements during the placement period.
• The preceptor is to liaise with the clinical support nurse and the nurse unit manager as required to ensuring the graduate nurse’s objectives can be met. • The first day in each placement area will be the supernumerary orientation day to
enable the graduate nurse to explore that department’s structure and specific requirements for care. It will include the location and purpose of emergency systems and any alarms present in that department.
4.3.3 Education and support program
Colac Area Health and Lorne Community Hospital offers a range of activities, seminars, training days and information sharing within our ongoing Graduate Nurse Program – Education Sessions. The program is tailored to address the needs of the staff and the health service, in the form of competency programs, mandatory reviews and to meet the perceived needs of the staff.
The graduate nurse program for 2006 will involve:
• Support and education sessions. The meetings will be conducted fortnightly on the first and third Monday of the month between 2. 00pm and 3.30pm, for the duration of the program (Both at Colac Area Health and Lorne Community Hospital). A calendar of events for this program to August / September will be provided at commencement of Graduate year
• To ensure attendances at scheduled education sessions and activities, the graduate nurse is to confirm the dates and times for these sessions with the nurse unit manager of their placement department.
• Attendance at an Assessment Skills study day 13th February 2006
• Attendance at the Wound Management Program study day on 21st February
2006
GRADUATE NURSE PROGRAM
• Attendance at the 2 day Palliative Care Course conducted on the 6th and 13th of
April
The graduate nurse can also attend 10 hours of inservice education as provided under the general Education and Training Plan for the nursing department or any of the education and training sessions conducted throughout the service. Attendance is by negotiation with the department’s nurse unit manager.
The graduate nurse can also attend up to 8 hours at any appropriate self-selected program. This program can be attendance at one or more internal programs or at an external program. This request is to be discussed with their current placement preceptor, nurse unit manager, the clinical support nurse and the clinical educators.
4.3.4 Theoretical and Competency Components
1. Completion of requirements for Drug Competency:
• Drug dosage and IV rates calculations components of the program to be completed during the initial three orientation days
• Drugs rounds to be supervised in initial department until reviewed and deemed competent by preceptor or Clinical nurse educator.
• Completion of total package within four weeks of starting graduate nurse program. Completion Date – 3rd week in March 2006.
2. Completion of the initial education in the competency review package for the following equipment:
Training in use to be attended to during the initial three orientation days • Enteral Feeding
• Gemini Pump
• Graseby Syringe Driver / P.C.A.
• Optimum Blood Glucose / Ketones Monitoring System • PageWriter 200/200i Cardiograph
• PCA Driver • TURP’s Package
• Other skills and competencies as designated
For completion the competency review will be undertaken in an appropriate placement department with preceptor, clinical support nurse or clinical nurse educator.
3. Completion of case studies, or other designated projects one in each half of the year
Due Dates: Week 4 June 2006
Week 4 November 2006
4. A Teaching session or verbal presentation or another activity as negotiated with clinical support nurse and the departmental staff
5. Personal Development
The graduate nurse should keep a professional journal in which significant aspects of their practice experience should be detailed. Journalling events will assist later reflection of issues and experiences noted within the journal and assist in the personal development of graduate nurse into a reflective practitioner.
Recommended reading is Mary Louise Holly, (1984) Keeping a Professional Journal, Deakin University, Victoria. (A copy is available from Arie de Leeuw, Education Services Manager)
GRADUATE NURSE PROGRAM
4.3.5 Support Staff Available
• Preceptor2 – Preceptors will be the prime support people within placement
departments. Their role is to support the graduate nurse as they develop the skills and attributes to become a competent Division 1 - Grade 2 Year 1 – Registered Nurse.
• Clinical support nurse – a resource person working with both graduates and clinical staff to ensure appropriate assistance is given when required
• Liaison – Between graduate nurses and placement departments and with clinical educators.
• Support role – To discuss issues and any unresolved problems with the graduate nurses in regard adapting to practice or aspects of the
placement departments.
• Clinical nurse educator – To support departmental preceptors and clinical support nurse with completion and review of clinical skills and competencies.
• Evaluation in association with clinical support nurse and departmental personnel, of the graduate nurse’s nursing practice and other associated activities.
• Nurse unit manager – can be a resource person for nursing practice and in the administrative aspects of managing a ward or department.
• Departmental staff - other nursing departmental staff will be available to discuss aspects of practice or to offer advice and support to the graduate nurse.
• Allied health and clinical management staff – can offer advice and assistance into their fields specific areas of care within the management of a patient’s
condition.
• Mutual support - Between Graduate Nurses at regular meetings. Networking between graduate nurses will allow reflection of practice and other issues that might arise that can be discussed with peers rather than more senior staff. • Education services manager
The Education Services Manager is involved with the graduate nurse program in a number of ways:
• Development of graduate nurse program and the support packages associated with the program
• Education and Training – Is available to discuss education and training issues, for the current placement or for the future with the graduate nurse. Able to provide details of relevant courses of studies and their availability. • All Staff
All Colac Area Health staff is available to provide the first year graduate with advice and assistance, as they are able.
5. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL ACTIVITIES
Performance appraisal activities are to ensure that the Graduate Nurses demonstrate appropriate development into the role of Division One Registered Nurse.
5.1 Nursing Practice Appraisal
• Evaluation of the individual aims and objectives developed by the graduate nurse in conjunction with their preceptor during each placement?
• Completion of supervised Drug Rounds until the graduate nurse is deemed competent by their preceptor or the clinical support nurse
GRADUATE NURSE PROGRAM
• Nursing skills performed under supervision until graduate nurse is considered competent in their practice in conjunction with their preceptor and clinical support nurse
• Completion of the performance appraisal is the responsibility of the graduate nurse, in association with their preceptor, the clinical support nurse and the nurse unit manager of the placement department.
• The graduate nurse with the assistance of the clinical support nurse and preceptor is to ensure that a performance appraisal is reviewed midway during each placement. This allows any areas of concern to be noted and addressed prior to completion of that placement. These areas of concern can be reviewed at the completion of the placement to ensure that they have been addressed.
5.2 Assessment of Program
• Graduate nurse will assist in the assessment of the graduate nurse program to ensure the continued development and improvement of this program
5.3 Certification of Completion of Program
• Meeting of theoretical components and achieving satisfactory departmental appraisals is a pre-requisite for attaining certificate at the completion of the course.
Arie de Leeuw
Education Services Manager January 2006
GRADUATE NURSE PROGRAM
Appendix A
What is a “Preceptor “?
A preceptor is an experienced registered nurse division 1 who will assist the graduate nurse to consolidate theory component of the undergraduate courses into clinical practice. They can offer a period of workplace support and can assist the socialisation of the newly qualified nurse into professional practice3.
A preceptor has also been defined as “…an experienced and competent registered nurse who acts as a clinical role model and resource person for the newly employed registered nurses or students. The preceptor orientates registered nurses to their roles and
responsibilities in the unit, and to informal and formal customs and culture of the
workplace. It is essential that the preceptor spends a significant amount of time with the registered nurse and is available for consultation thereafter.”4
The Role of a Preceptor will include5:
• Confidante - To facilitate frank open discussion and learning • Advocate - For the participant as deemed appropriate
• Adviser - to set aside periods of time to review and reflect upon the clinical experience with the participant
• To be a Role Model - exemplary practice by preceptor will act as role model for new graduate. Preceptor will demonstrate in regard to nurse practitioner:
• requirements for professional practice
• awareness of the scope of acceptable practice
• awareness of particular requirements of the nursing division of the service • demonstration of the integral contribution of nursing to the multi-disciplinary health care team
• To be an expert Clinical Practitioner - demonstrates rational basis for nursing practice, which combined with a credible experiential background will facilitate the participants development
• To enhance the Clinical Practice Experience - Will take steps as necessary to make the clinical experience a positive one for the participant
• be aware of organisational requirements for rostering requirements • be aware of clinical learning requirements and objectives
• provide a supportive environment
• facilitate and monitor effective communication patterns
• provide feedback on performance - to reward good practice and remediate areas of concern
• To Facilitate the Ongoing Clinical Development of the Participant -
• to provide feedback to the nurse unit manager and Coordinator of program about participants progress and the effectiveness of the program
3 Bethlehem Hospital Inc., Graduate Nurse Program 1998, p.15.
4 Department of Human Services, Graduate Nurse Program Guidelines, 1997 5
GRADUATE NURSE PROGRAM
CASE STUDIES:
Completion of 2 case studies, or other designated projects one in each half of the year
• Case studies are to be presented to the graduate nurse group or to departmental staff.
• Projects will be negotiated with the clinical support nurse or clinical nurse educator and can involve simple research or health promotion / education. • For case studies, each will be based on personal nursing experience with a
particular patient, who will remain unidentified, and will include the following: • Past history - brief overview of problems and difficulties particularly in
relation to admission.
• The factor(s) that led to the admission to the department. • Nursing assessment of client and their needs.
• Planning of nursing care provision. This is an area that needs clear discussion. It needs to include reference to discharge planning including required home assessments and support services and identification of what allied health professions would need to be included in the care delivery. You can demonstrate this aspect on a proposed nursing care plan for your patient?
• Implementation - the delivery of the planned nursing care noting any ongoing changes that were necessary.
• Evaluation - how effective was the plan of care, what problems were encountered what considerations were overlooked.
Each case study, project or report is to be approximately 1000 words in length.
VERBAL PRESENTATIONS:
A Teaching session or verbal presentation.
An activity to be negotiated with clinical support nurse. These activities can involve:
• A verbal presentation, could be a case description, or an exploration of a professional issue, or a review of a medical or surgical condition.
• This presentation can be made in any of the placement departments or at one of the Graduate Nurse Support Meetings (by negotiation).
