The Transition of Newly Licensed Nurses Into the Workforce: Implementing a Designated Transition Unit in a Community Hospital Healthcare System

Southcoast Health System is a large, nonprofit system in southeastern Massachusetts consisting of three acute care hospitals, outpatient clinics, a free-standing surgicenter, and a home care division. In the acute care division, our experiences with newly licensed nurses (NLNs) had opportunities for improvement. Our orientation program was costly, consisting of a minimum of 12 weeks but often extended. The experience for our NLNs was variable across sites and nursing units. We had a goal to lower our turnover rate (9.1%), and as a result, we were in a perpetual orientation mode. National registered nurse (RN) attrition rates for RNs in their first year of employment are reported at an even higher rate of 30%.1 It became clear that innovative solutions were needed.