Erica Carbajal – Becker’s Clinical Leadership
Norfolk, Va.-based Sentara Health has launched a six-month residency program that offers new nurses specialized training and mentoring in their intended area of practice.
Four details:
The program recently welcomed its first cohort and aims to train around 750 nurses per year. New nurses are automatically enrolled in the residency program and select a specialized track in either medical-surgical care, emergency care, women’s health, intermediate care or operating room care.
The program is designed to instill confidence in new nurses, improve patient safety and boost retention. The curriculum includes in-person training and mentoring at simulation centers, where nurses gain experience with critical clinical skills such as IV starts and tracheostomy care. There are also components to support leadership development, effective communication and personal well-being.
The health system anticipates the transition to practice program will support further improvement in its nurse turnover rate, which was 12.5% in 2023. The national hospital turnover rate as of 2023 was roughly 21%, according to the latest retention and RN staffing report from NSI Nursing Solutions.
Over the past several years, a growing number of hospitals and health systems have invested in comprehensive residency programs. Nurse leaders have routinely cited such programs as a critical retention tool, particularly among first-year nurses.
