New graduates in critical care. The success of one hospital.

The cycles of registered nurse (RN) shortage and surplus continues into the new century, and nurse executives, managers, and staff development educators are under extreme pressure to respond to the staffing issues. Specialty areas in hospitals are typically the first to experience fewer than needed RNs. The purpose of this article is to describe how the managers, staff development educators, and staff of one large public hospital created a training program for new graduate RNs so they could function safely and efficiently in the adult intensive care environment.