Role orientation in novice home healthcare nurses

The focus of healthcare delivery continues to shift from hospital-based nursing practice to care in the community, which includes home health care. Many basic nursing education programs provide home healthcare clinical experiences for students. However, this may not be enough to assist nurses in achieving home health nursing competency. Most nurses recruited into home health care worked exclusively in hospitals. Many nurses are employed in a practice environment for which they lack the necessary education and skills. As the practice environment for the nurse changes, so does the role of the nurse. Nurses are having difficulty adjusting to changing roles and responsibilities. This cross-sectional research study was conducted to evaluate the extent that new home healthcare nurses understand their role. This study reveals that nurses employed in home health care for 24 months or less continue to have only a moderate degree of understanding of their new role. These data suggest that educators critically evaluate the effectiveness of orientation programs for novice home healthcare nurses.