A handoff report card for general nursing orientation.

While redesigning nursing orientation, a gap in the transmission of information from general hospital to unit orientation was identified: Unit managers were unaware of the strengths and weaknesses identified in the nursing orientation of newly hired experienced nurses and, therefore, could not tailor the unit orientation to meet the specific needs of these orientees. The authors discuss the development and implementation of a nursing orientation report card, consisting of a 100-point score containing a summary of skills, knowledge, and Benner level measuring clinical performance and critical thinking, to facilitate better exchange of performance data.