title: The use of a clinical resource nurse for newly graduated nurses in a pediatric oncology setting.
abstract: The pediatric oncology nursing unit at the Alberta Children's Hospital experienced a large influx of new staff nurses between May 2008 and November 2008. There were 16 in total, and only a few had previous experience, whereas the majority was newly graduated nurses. As a solution to the high numbers of new staff nurses, the role of a Resource Nurse was developed as a temporary position to assist new staff nurses with their patient assignment, prioritize their day, and deal with complex patient procedures/treatments. Also, the Resource Nurse assisted all staff on the unit in dealing with increased patient acuity, chemotherapy administration, acuity issues, family teaching, and complicated family situations. A total of 55 prebooked shifts were scheduled from November 2008 to January 2009. A questionnaire was handed out to the staff nurses as a means to determine the effectiveness of having a Resource Nurse work on the unit. Twenty-three nurses responded by filling out the confidential questionnaire. Overall, respondents reported that the Resource Nurse was beneficial to their practice on the unit.
authors.affiliation: Alberta Children's Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. lyndsay.mackay@albertahealthservices.ca
authors.forename: Lyndsay Jerusha
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: MacKay
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bellamy-Stack
mesh_terms: D000416:Alberta; D001955:British Columbia; D002648:Child; D005246:Feedback; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000379:methods*; D009726:Nurses / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D010371:Pediatric Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D012525:Saskatchewan; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce