Understanding the importance of effective orientation : what does this mean in psychiatric graduate nurse programs?

Objective: The main purpose of this project was to examine and describe specialist psychiatric graduate nurse programs (PGNP) in Victoria, Australia. Design: This project used thematic analysis to review information obtained from individual and focus group interviews. Setting: Twenty one area mental health services (AMHS) in Victoria, Australia participated in this project. Subjects: Participants included graduate nurses, nurse educators, nurse unit managers, ward-based clinical nurses, consumer consultants, mental health nurse academics and future graduates. Main Outcome: To describe current PGNP practices, identify and make recommendations for improvements. Results: Many categories relating to PGNP were examined however for the purposes of this paper issues regarding orientation are discussed. Effective orientation was identified as crucial to graduates' confidence and learning in the psychiatric setting. Conclusions: A substantial amount of information was gathered specific to orientation practices in PGNP. Much of this argues for the need to have a formal, structured and supportive orientation period in PGNP.