| Course | NR 587 Advanced Nursing Leadership Within Healthcare Environments |
|---|---|
| Week | 4 |
| Paper type | Workforce investment plan |
| Length | About 1,150 words, 4 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | MSN, Nurse Executive |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NR 587 Week 4
Workforce Investment Plan: Extending Precepted Orientation for New Night Nurses From Six Weeks to Twelve on a Medical-Surgical Unit, Costed Against What Agency and Turnover Already Cost
Student Name
College of Nursing, Chamberlain University
NR 587: Advanced Nursing Leadership Within Healthcare Environments
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Workforce Investment Plan: Extending Precepted Orientation for New Night Nurses From Six Weeks to Twelve on a Medical-Surgical Unit, Costed Against What Agency and Turnover Already Cost
The Loss, Stated in People
In 2025 the unit hired 12 registered nurses into night positions. Within a year, 7 had left. Of the 7, 5 had less than a year of nursing experience. Each departure created a night vacancy that agency nurses and overtime filled, and each made the next new night nurse's first months harder, because fewer experienced colleagues were on shift to help.
The Intervention
Every newly graduated nurse hired into a night position will have twelve weeks of orientation paired with a designated night preceptor, instead of six. During the second six weeks, the new nurse takes a full assignment while the preceptor carries a reduced one, so the pair work as a unit rather than the new nurse being supernumerary. Preceptors receive a differential of $2.50 an hour for precepted shifts. Each new nurse also meets the unit educator for an hour every month through the first twelve months.
I chose this over other options, such as a sign-on bonus or a wellness program, because the leaving is concentrated in the first year on nights, and the exit interviews and survey comments describe new nurses left without support at night. A sign-on bonus would bring more new nurses into the same conditions.
What the Gap Already Costs
Agency premium. Night registered nurse hours on the unit total about 26,280 a year (six nurses for 12 hours, every night). In the second quarter of 2026, agency covered 22%, about 5,780 hours a year at that rate. Agency nurses cost the unit about $112 an hour. A staff nurse costs about $49.40 an hour with benefits and employer taxes (base $38.00 plus 30%). The premium is about $62.60 an hour, or about $362,000 a year.
Turnover. Human resources estimates the cost of replacing a registered nurse, including recruitment, orientation and lost productivity, at about $45,000, in line with published estimates adjusted for inflation (Jones, 2008). Seven night departures in a year cost about $315,000.
Together, the unit spends roughly $677,000 a year on the consequences of losing night nurses. This is money already spent, not a budget line anyone approved for the purpose.
Costing That Survives Finance
The unit expects to hire 8 new graduate nurses into night positions each year.
Extended orientation. In weeks 7 to 12, the new nurse carries a full assignment but the preceptor's assignment is reduced by about a third, so roughly a third of a nurse's hours in each precepted shift is added cost. For six weeks of three 12-hour shifts, that is 216 hours, a third of which is 72 hours, at $49.40 = $3,557 per new nurse, or $28,454 for 8.
Preceptor differential. Twelve weeks of three shifts is 432 hours per preceptor. At $2.50 plus 30% on-costs, $3.25 an hour, that is $1,404 per pairing, or $11,232 for 8.
Educator debriefs. Twelve hours a year per new nurse plus preparation, about 0.1 of an educator's time, about $12,000 a year with on-costs.
Preceptor preparation. An eight-hour preceptor course for 8 night preceptors, at $49.40 = $3,162.
Cover for the preceptor's own absence. When a preceptor is off sick, a second trained preceptor must step in; training two backups adds $790.
Total first-year cost: about $55,600. Recurring cost after the first year: about $51,700.
Break-Even
If the plan prevents two night departures a year, it saves about $90,000 in turnover and reduces agency use as positions stay filled. Two fewer departures would cover the plan's cost with no change in agency. If it prevents four, as the target below aims, the turnover saving alone is about $180,000.
Spector et al. (2015) found in a multisite study that new graduates in hospitals with established transition programs reported lower turnover and better competence, with programs including preceptor support and longer orientation among the strongest. That does not guarantee the same effect here, but it supports aiming the investment at the first year.
Alternatives Considered and Their Costs
A sign-on bonus of $10,000 for each new night nurse would cost $80,000 a year for 8 hires and would bring more new nurses into the same first months; the 2025 cohort had a $5,000 bonus and still lost 7 of 12. Two night relief registered nurse positions would cost about $205,000 a year with on-costs and would ease workload, but the budget closed without them and they cannot be funded from a one-year allocation. Renegotiating the agency contract might cut the premium by a few dollars an hour but would leave departures unchanged. Turnover rates also depend on how they are measured (Kovner et al., 2014), so each alternative was judged against the same figure: first-year departures among night hires.
What the Plan Does Not Fund
It does not add positions or change the night ratio. If staffing on nights remains the main reason nurses leave, this plan will not fix it, and a separate request would be needed.
The Number the Plan Accepts Judgment On
First-year departures among nurses hired into night positions in 2027: no more than 3 of 8 (38%), down from 7 of 12 (58%) in 2025. A second number, agency share of night hours, should fall from 22% to under 15% by the end of 2027 as positions stay filled.
If, by the end of 2027, first-year night departures are 5 of 8 or more, the plan has failed and should not be renewed in its current form.
How Success Will Be Tracked Month to Month
Because the main figure takes a year to read, two early signals are tracked monthly: departures within three months of hire, and new nurses' answers to one question at each debrief, asking whether they would choose this unit again. Neither replaces the main figure, but both can show early if the plan is not working.
Who Carries It Out
The unit educator runs the program and the debriefs. The nurse manager selects preceptors. The assistant nurse manager for nights schedules pairings. Human resources tracks departures by hire date.
Risks
Preceptors could burn out from repeated pairings; no preceptor will take more than two new nurses a year. New nurses may leave for reasons the plan does not touch, such as moving away. The cost estimates assume the agency rate stays near $112 an hour.
Approval Requested
Approval from the director of nursing for a one-year pilot starting January 2027, funded from the nursing division's retention fund, with renewal tied to the first-year departure figure.
References
Jones, C. B. (2008). Revisiting nurse turnover costs: Adjusting for inflation. Journal of Nursing Administration, 38(1), 11-18. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NNA.0000295636.03216.6f
Kovner, C. T., Brewer, C. S., Fatehi, F., & Jun, J. (2014). What does nurse turnover rate mean and what is the rate? Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 15(3-4), 64-71. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527154414547953
Spector, N., Blegen, M. A., Silvestre, J., Barnsteiner, J., Lynn, M. R., Ulrich, B., Fogg, L., & Alexander, M. (2015). Transition to practice study in hospital settings. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 5(4), 24-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2155-8256(15)30031-4
The Chamberlain NR 587 Week 4 instructions
The Week 4 plan reads like a funding request with a comparison built in. State the intervention in one line, at a level a finance reader could act on: a differential on a specific rotation, a funded relief position or a ladder step. Cost it honestly, including salary, on-costs and when the cost lands. Then write down what the area already spends on the same problem, such as agency premiums and turnover, as a figure. Aim the intervention at the group the data identify. Most rubrics mark down a plan that only encourages wellbeing, an intervention priced without its labor costs and an intervention aimed at the wrong group.
Inside the NR 587 Week 4 example
The sample states that 7 of 12 night hires left within a year. The intervention doubles precepted orientation to twelve weeks, pays preceptors a differential and adds monthly educator debriefs. Current costs are worked out: about $362,000 a year in agency premium and about $315,000 in turnover. The plan is costed line by line, including on-costs, preceptor training and backup cover, to about $55,600. Break-even is two fewer departures. Three alternatives are priced against the same figure. The target is 3 or fewer of 8 night hires leaving, with a failure threshold, early signals, owners, risks and the approval requested. Margin notes mark the cost lines and the failure threshold against the rubric.
Reading the NR 587 Week 4 grading rubric
The plan that only exhorts loses most of the marks; this one funds a specific program with hours and a differential. An intervention priced without its labor understates itself, so each line includes on-costs and the cost of covering the preceptor's own absence. Aiming at the wrong group costs a row, and this plan targets the new night nurses the figures single out. Writing down what the gap already costs makes the request persuasive, and that figure here is about $677,000. A single number the plan accepts judgment on, with a failure point, earns the evaluation criterion. Pricing three alternatives against the same figure shows why this program was chosen.
Common NR 587 Week 4 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Weak NR 587 Week 4 plans propose recognition programs or better communication with no cost and no commitment. Others quote a new position at base salary with no benefits or taxes. Many fund recruitment when the data show the problem is people leaving. Current spending on agency and turnover is often left out, which makes any request look expensive. Few plans say what result would count as failure. Cost the plan with on-costs, set it beside what the problem already costs and name one figure you will be judged on. If your workforce problem differs, send the departure and agency figures, and a sample plan can be costed the same way.
Get a NR 587 Week 4 example written to your instructions
Send the instructions and rubric your classroom published, plus a sentence on the group you would spend money to keep. A custom NR 587 Week 4 example is written to your prompt and returned inside 24-48h, with the first one free. Costs in it stay illustrative unless you give us your own.
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NR 587 Week 4 questions, answered
Do I have to use real salary figures?
No, and inventing precise ones is worse than working in stated ranges. What the rubric wants is a costing method a reader can follow: how many hours, at roughly what rate, with on-costs added and the year it falls in. Say where a figure is an estimate. An honest range with visible arithmetic marks better than a confident total nobody can reconstruct.
Can the intervention be something non-financial?
It can, but almost nothing is actually free. Self-scheduling costs somebody's time to administer, a mentoring arrangement costs the mentor's hours, and a change to weekend rotation costs goodwill somewhere. The plans that mark well name that cost rather than presenting the option as costless, because a reader who has run a budget knows better.
How far ahead should the plan look?
Far enough that the effect could show, which for leaving usually means a year rather than a quarter, and short enough that somebody still holds the post when the review comes. Set an interim point where you would check whether anything is moving, and say what result at that point would make you stop spending.
Where can I find a free NR 587 Week 4 sample paper?
The full workforce investment plan for twelve-week night orientation, costed against agency and turnover spending, is published on this page.
How many departures must the NR 587 Week 4 plan prevent to pay for itself?
Two fewer night departures a year, which would save about $90,000 in turnover against a plan costing about $55,600.