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Students step up with ideas, make changes

HCPro's Weekly Update on the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®*, August 8, 2006

Nursing leadership encourages all levels of nursing staff to demonstrate the role of nurses as teachers. At Centra Health Incorporated - Lynchburg General Hospital in Lynchburg, VA, an ANCC Magnet Recognition Program® facility since 2005, a group of students approached the senior vice president of patient care services and proposed that the nurse extern program be changed to provide a comprehensive approach to enhance skill development, says Linda Jenkins, MSN, APRN,BC. The proposal requested that junior nursing students be selected and assigned preceptors to work with for a year. In return, the students would commit to remaining at Centra Health for one year after graduation. The proposal was approved and Centra Health agreed to allocate 30 extern positions per year for this program.

Cindy Goodrich, RN, MSN, EdD, Magnet Recognition Program facilitator at Centra Health, says students work fulltime with a preceptor during the summer months and part-time during the school year. The preceptors are responsible for helping the students develop clinical skills and develop a comfort level with being a part of the team. The first year turnover of this group is less than 10%, compared with national new graduate turnover rates that are typically at 50% or higher. A survey of nurse managers revealed that those participating in the extern program made an easier adjustment to the units after graduation and required three to four weeks less of orientation.

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