ABSTRACT
As health care reform pushes for improved patient care outcomes and reduced costs, tele-intensive care units are increasingly included in the discussion of critical care delivery. Nursing must be involved in the implementation of and education for this transformative initiative.
Subject(s)
Critical Care/organization & administration , Delivery of Health Care/organization & administration , Education, Nursing, Continuing/organization & administration , Staff Development/organization & administration , Telemedicine/organization & administration , Humans , United StatesABSTRACT
New nurses are traditionally oriented into their professional role by a registered nurse preceptor. This article describes the process of renovating and centralizing RN preceptor programs within the Department of Nursing in a multispecialty medical center in the Midwest. Outcomes of centralizing the preceptor program included involvement of nursing leaders, identification of methods of RN preceptor recognition, implementation of methods of improving institution-wide RN preceptor professional development, identification of opportunities for specialized RN preceptor classes and forums, creation of a tool to measure workload productivity, and finally, the formulation of a database to track performance and completion of orientation programs.
