Initial Onboarding Questions (Nursing)

00:01 When you begin a new position, the team expects you to not know a lot of information.

00:07 This is a golden time for you to ask a lot of questions.

00:12 As you are preparing for your job, there is a long and growing checklist of things for you to learn.

00:19 Here are a few specific types of questions that you should be asking to prepare for success in your role.

00:27 First, you should be asking questions about logistics.

00:31 Many times logistics gets overlooked until the first day when you don't know where to park, where to meet, what to wear, what time works starts.

00:41 Include questions about dress code, shift changes, where to meet on your first day, exchange contact information before your first day in case anything comes up.

00:52 Ask about scheduling, parking, lunch and first week expectations.

00:58 More than likely, the first week will be different from your typical schedule, because you will be in orientation.

01:05 Ask questions about logistics in your pre-onboarding.

01:10 Also, ask questions about communication expectations.

01:14 Ask questions in your onboarding process about documentation, communication boards, rounds.

01:21 Get familiar with the operational expectations of your unit in your pre-onboarding and in the beginning of your onboarding.

01:31 Lastly, ask questions about your performance expectations.

01:35 What are your hiring managers expectations for your onboarding process? What about the first year? Are there long term expectations? If you signed a sign on bonus with a 1, 2, 3 or 4-year commitment, there might be a longer term plan for your continuous development.

01:57 Ask about the performance metrics used to measure nurse success.

02:02 Ask about continuing education expectations.

02:05 Ask about the performance expectations of you as a health care practitioner.

02:11 As stated before, there are a lot of questions and things for you to learn in your new role.

02:17 Begin by writing down 3-5 questions related to the logistics, communication expectations and performance expectations in your new role.