An Alternative Method of Transitioning Into Practice: A Nonemployee-Based Program

With employer-sponsored transition-into-practice programs, the work hours of new registered nurse (RN) employees are included in productivity data, causing an aggressive push to make the graduate fully productive as soon as possible. Often, the result is RN turnover caused by feelings of inadequacy and fear of making errors. Nurse leaders in the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston, Texas, have developed and implemented a program that takes an innovative, alternative approach.The program is a traineeship, in which newly graduated, nonemployee RNs engage in a structured, mentored program in a variety of clinical specialties for 6 months without the pressures of employer-sponsored programs. The initial experience with this program raises a fundamental question about whether the focus of transition into practice should be on making an RN fully productive as rapidly as possible or on enhancing work readiness in preparation for an RN's first professional position.