Orientation: the key to successful, engaged staff.

Orientation programs are an important component of employee retention and engagement, yet the importance of orientation is often overlooked by many organizations. A lack of an adequate orientation program can result in new employees finding it difficult to adapt to the organization's culture,and may lead to high turnover rates. This article relates the story of Banner Baywood Medical Center's quest to cultivate an effective orientation program and increase retention of quality, engaged employees.

Journaling as a mechanism to facilitate graduate nurses' role transition.

Staff educators continue to develop creative solutions to improve critical thinking, increase confidence, improve organizational acculturation, and reduce the frustrations that challenge the novice nurse. Traditionally, journal writing is used by nursing faculty as a method to link the student nurses' lived clinical experience to nursing theory. Expanding journaling into new graduate nurse orientation programs may benefit new nurses on their journey to professional practice.

Shared leadership and the evolution of "one great department".

In 2001, Banner Baywood Medical Center's (BBMC) medical imaging department employed concepts to engage staff in a participative decision-making practice regarding those things that most impacted their jobs. A 5-member Oversight Committee was charged with defining a vision for the department to be achieved by 2005, determining obstacles or challenges that needed to be overcome in order to achieve the vision, and facilitating 12-week teams to find solutions to these obstacles. Several initiatives were implemented to ensure competitive salaries, more effective leadership, and overall greater participation by staff in the decision-making process.

Efficacy and tolerability of compounded bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

The primary purpose of this six-week survey study of women currently taking compounded bioidentical hormone replacement therapy was to determine if compounded bioidentical hormone replacement therapy relieves symptoms of menopause and is well tolerated. The secondary purpose of this study was to compare the symptom relief and tolerability of compounded bioidentical hormone replacement therapy to previously used commercially available products. All strengths and dosage forms of bi-estrogen and tri-estrogen were included, whether used alone or in combination with progesterone, dehydroepiandrosterone or testosterone.