Avoiding bad connection: Orientation phone calls foster student‐faculty connection in an RN‐BSN program

Background Studies show that the primary reasons registered nurses (RNs) withdraw from registered nurse to bachelor of science in nursing (RN-BSN) programs are related to the challenge of sustaining work and family obligations while in school and having unclear expectations. It has been shown that nontraditional students facing these types of challenges benefit from programs that give strong sense of faculty connection and orient students to coursework by providing clear information. Purpose The purpose of this project was to see if conducting one-on-one, script-guided orientation phone calls with individual students provided valuable programmatic information and established a sense of connection to faculty. Methods Six RN-to-BSN faculty conducted a combined 108 orientation telephone calls to individual, newly enrolled online RN-to-BSN students. The purpose of the orientation was to introduce general program expectations required to successfully complete courses, and provide students with a sense of connectedness with faculty. Faculty developed and distributed a survey (3, 6-point Likert scale response items and 2 open-ended questions) to understand the degree to which RN-to-BSN students valued the orientation phone call. Results Ninety-four percent (n = 101) of participating students agreed that the RN-BSN program orientation phone call resulted in feeling a "sense of connectedness" with the online program faculty member. Additionally, 95% (n = 102) agreed that the orientation phone call provided them with the necessary information to support success in their first course within an RN-BSN online program. Conclusion One-on-one orientation telephone calls provided valuable program overview information and the personal conversational format conveyed to remote students faculty availability and an enhanced sense of connectedness.