I
n february, a group of 11 new registered nurses reported for their orientation
and preceptorships at California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
These new RNs had all passed their board exams and received their licenses, filled
out extensive applications, gone through background checks, run the gauntlet of
interviews with various hospital unit directors, and completed the hospital's 90-
page new RN hire competency checklist.
But many of the preceptors were confused by the new nurses' badges. Instead of
simply reading "RN," they were labeled "RN Transition."
"My preceptor and other people throughout the day kept asking me what that
meant. What does 'transition' mean? So were we hired or not? Were we employees or
not?" said one of the 11 new RNs whose name National Nurse chose not to reveal for fear
of retribution from the hospital. "The nurses kept saying, 'I don't understand why you're
not an employee.' My preceptor said that if I wasn't an employee, she didn't want me
signing charts or passing meds. I started thinking it was all so odd."
She was right, it was odd. When California Nurses Association nurse members and
representatives confronted management, the hospital claimed the new RNs were interns
A P R I L | M AY 2 0 1 5 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 15
The New
Abnormal
Unable to find jobs and desperate for experience, new RNs
are flocking to an exploding number of unpaid "internships"
and "residency" programs developed by nursing schools
and private third parties, and hospitals are just fine with that.
Learn why this shift hurts the nursing profession and how
National Nurses United RNs are fighting back.
BY E M I LY W I L S O N A N D LU C I A H WA N G
