Program Helps New Nurses Make Transition

For those looking to ease into careers as registered nurses, Legacy Health System offers several internship programs geared towards helping students make a smooth transition from academia to the real world of patient care.
The next acute care and perioperative nurse internship programs will begin next January. Applications and all supplemental application materials will be accepted until Oct. 25, 2006. Interviews will be held in November and December.
While the skills learned vary among the internship programs, each one orients nurses to the acute or critical-care setting and helps develop on-the-job organizational and patient care abilities. All activities are competency-based, helping students learn how to apply theories and concepts to the work environment. Formal classroom education is combined with guidance from expert nurse preceptors who act as coaches, mentors and resources.
"At Legacy Heath System, we believe that every new nurse deserves a sound start," said Carla Harris, R.N., Legacy's vice president of nursing. "A well-designed introduction establishes a strong foundation and sets a positive direction for the future."
The following nurse internships are available:
• Acute Care — Medical-Surgical/Women's and Children's: Legacy offers medical-surgical/acute care and women's/children's internship programs for new nurses and nurses with no previous acute care or hospital experience, allowing them to obtain the basic knowledge and clinical skills necessary to function independently in these clinical areas.
Students must have a current Oregon RN license by the internship's start date, and they must commit to one year of full-time employment or two years of part-time employment with Legacy Health System, following successful completion of the internship program.
• Perioperative (operating room): Legacy offers a registered nurse internship program for nurses who have no previous surgical experience, allowing them to obtain the basic knowledge and clinical skills necessary to function independently in a perioperative nursing position.
Students must have a current Oregon RN license by the internship's start date, and they must have successfully completed the Mount Hood Community College or Linn-Benton Community College RN post-graduate operating room course or the equivalent. They also must have successfully completed a recent operating room practicum/class.
Information on all of Legacy's nursing internships, including critical care and emergency services, as well as application materials and answers to frequently asked questions, can be found at www.legacyhealth.org/nursinginternships.