Nursing Orientation and Education

Nursing Orientation and Education 1. Level IV NICU nursing orientation will incorporate didactic education, simulation, skills verification, and competency and will be tailored to the individual needs of the nurse based on clinical experience. 2. The facility will document an annual educational needs assessment to determine the educational needs of the clinical nursing staff and ancillary team members. 3. Annual nursing education will address the annual needs assessment and incorporate simulation and skill verification of low-volume, high-risk procedures consistent with the types of care provided in the Level IV NICU and include education related to serious safety events. Clinical Nurse Educator a. The NICU clinical nurse educator will: i. Be an RN, with nursing certification specific to the care environment preferred; ii. Have at least a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master’s preferred; iii. Demonstrate a current status of NRP completion; iv. Cultivate collaborative relationships with the NPM and facility leadership to improve the quality of care and patient care outcomes; and v. Have experience and expertise to evaluate the educational needs of the clinical staff, develop didactic and skill-based educational tools, oversee education and skills verification, and evaluate retention of content, critical thinking skills, and competency relevant to level III neonatal care. b. The facility will have at least one dedicated FTE allocated to perform the roles and responsibilities of the NICU clinical nurse educator.