Paper
Sunday, November 4, 2007
104
Debunking the Myth of Common Wisdom Regarding the New Graduate in Psychiatric Nursing
Susanne M. DeFabiis, MS, RNBC, Nursing Administration, Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital, Hoffman Estates, IL, USA and Jeanette Rossetti, EdD, RN, School of Nursing, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: 1.The learner will identify the components of a new graduate psychiatric nursing internship program.
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| Learning Objective #2: 2.The learner will define the importance of coupling entry level medical surgical and psychiatric nursing skills for the new graduate psychiatric nurse.
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Is common wisdom really wise? The long held belief has been that new graduate registered nurses need a minimum of two years medical surgical experience before embarking on a career in psychiatric nursing. In view of the present nursing shortage this perspective needs to be challenged. One behavioral health facility’s innovative response has been to develop a twelve week new graduate internship for the new graduate to psychiatric nursing. This internship was developed to provide an experience which combined a 6 week intensive focus on medical surgical skills and a six week intensive focus on entry level psychiatric skills. This coupling of entry level medical surgical skills and psychiatric nursing skills is an essential component of this internship. This presentation will highlight the developmental process of this innovative program and the collaborative efforts between a university’s school of nursing and a behavioral health facility.