Why the Role of the Preceptor is Important in the Orientation of Newly Hired Graduates

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Nurses make numerous transitions in their career life. For instance, they make the transition to new graduate nurses to experienced nurses from student nurses. Experienced nurses also face transitions in their career life, including shifting to a new organization, a new specialist role, or both.  Thus, organizations use structure orientation programs to ease the transition process. Most of these programs use preceptors to smoothen new graduate nurses’ transition to the nursing profession. Preceptors play a vital role in enhancing retention and effective orientation of the new graduate nurses. These professionals (preceptors) also ensure that experienced nurses transition successfully in their new specialty areas or organization. Preceptors assist both experienced and new nurses’ transition into their new roles.

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Difficulties that Characterize the Transitioning Process

Transitioning to a new graduate nurse and experienced registered nurse from a nursing student is long-lasting and challenging. According to Schmitt & Schiffman(2019), it takes approximately one year for a new graduate nurse to feel self-assured and relaxed working in the acute care setting. The stressful and lengthy transitioning process results in poor retention rates among new nurses. New graduate nurses often cite unreasonable workloads, uncivil work settings, advanced and unfamiliar medical technology, high patient acuities, and poor working relationships as their reasons for attrition (Schmitt & Schiffman, 2019). High attrition rates are costly for a healthcare organization in terms of care quality, healthcare expenditure, loss of human resources, and patient safety.  Therefore, structured programs are necessary to retain new nurses in the profession.

Schmitt & Schiffman (2019) note that about 25% of new nurses’ drop out of their profession within a year resulting in undermined health outcomes and patient safety. The author estimates the cost of replacing one registered nurse to be US$10,098 to US$ 88,000.  Accordingly, new nurses undermine patient safety if not effectively oriented. According to the National Council State Boards of Nursing, 40% of new graduate nurses make medication errors (Schmitt & Schiffman, 2019). Therefore, a well-organized transition to practice program employing preceptors can ease the transition process and enhance retention rates.