Maximizing the results of new graduate orientation.
However, a word of caution seems appropriate. The administration at this hospital has long believed that no matter how good the orientation program, or the employee benefits package, or the employer's sensitivity to employees' intrinsic needs, the new nurse will be more likely to experience job satisfaction if she has, or obtains and accepts, a relatively realistic view of the job prior to accepting the position. Concerted efforts have been made to describe the role and the environment at the time the new graduate interviews for the position. Yet these nurses reported they had no real concept of the role until they were well into the orientation period. In effect, then, the importance of the preceptor's role in facilitating the process of transition cannot be over-emphasized.