College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

Spring 6-10-2022

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

Shannon Simonovich, PhD, RN

Abstract

Background: Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) are imperative in the provision of care within emergency departments. The employment of APPs requires an onboarding and orientation process to their respective facility. Employees undergoing onboarding and orientation to a new job have shown increased employee satisfaction and retention thereby reducing turnover and financial and non-financial costs associated with turnover.

Purpose: To describe the formal orientation and onboarding programs of APPs working in academic medical center emergency departments (EDs) of United States metropolitan cities.

Method: A qualitative descriptive design was utilized for this study using open-ended questions. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with APP leaders working in EDs from September 2021 to November 2021. Recorded interviews were conducted, one-on-one with the person responsible for oversight of APPs in the EDs at a facility or health system.

Results: The study had participants (n=5) from across Midwestern academic center EDs and all participants were APP leaders. All facilities, but one had informal onboarding and orientation programs with one newly structured formal onboarding and orientation program launched in 2020. Many participants described the current onboarding and orientation of new employees as customized to the employee, with timeframes ranging from a few shifts to a new graduates timeframe averaging 12 weeks to year-long fellowships. Despite the lack of formality in orientation and onboarding, all felt employees were productive and efficient in line with expected provider performance at the end of the orientation and onboarding timeframe.

SLP Collection

yes

Download

Included in

Nursing Commons

Share

COinS