RI Nurse Residency Program Seeks Candidates for 2014-15 Cohort

The Passport to Practice Nurse Residency program, a partnership between Stepping Up and the Rhode Island Action Coalition for the Future of Nursing, is recruiting a second cohort of new-to-practice RNs. Twenty-five new Nurse Residents will be accepted into the 2014-15 Passport to Practice cohort. 

Unemployed and underemployed nurses and new nursing graduates from accredited nursing programs are eligible to enroll in this successful and innovative program.  In addition to securing employment, the program seeks to bridge the transition from academic education to practice, much like a medical residency does for physicians. Nurse Residents are paired 1-1 with a trained Preceptor in one of the partner sites across Rhode Island. The 2013-14 cohort was composed of seventeen new-to-practice RNs, or “Nurse Residents” as they are known, and sixteen have secured employment as RNs in Rhode Island. This proven program gives Nurse Residents an advantage in the job market.

Program partners include: AccessPoint RI, Bradley Hospital, Butler Hospital, Clinica Esperanza, Coventry Skilled Nursing and Rehab, Forest Farm Health Care and Rehabilitation, J. Arthur Trudeau Memorial Center, Kent Hospital, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, Newport Hospital, Rhode Island Hospital, Seven Hills, Saint Antoine Residence, The Miriam Hospital, Thundermist Health Center, VNA of Care New England, West View Nursing and Rehabilitation, and Women & Infants Hospital. Funding for Year Two has been provided by the Governor’s Workforce Board of Rhode Island Innovative Partnerships Grant and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Partners Investing in Nursing Grant. 

In addition to their sixteen hours per week clinical training, the Nurse Residents spend Fridays in didactic sessions with some of the best nursing and allied health professionals from across the state. Didactic sessions will become more robust in Year Two, with added simulation opportunities donated by Kent Hospital and Women & Infants Hospital. The University of Rhode Island’s Providence Campus will continue to donate space for Friday sessions. “URI is committed to working with a wide array of partners to ensure Rhode Island’s nursing students and professionals have access to the best educators, tools and resources,” said URI President David M. Dooley. 

The didactic sessions are founded on the “Nurse of the Future” core competencies, and the groundbreaking 2010 Institute of Medicine report “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change and Advancing Health” which calls on the health care community to build a more highly educated and diverse nursing workforce that will improve health outcomes for patients, families and communities. “As Rhode Island and the rest of the nation begin to implement healthcare reform, there will be an emphasis on the continuum of care, which places tremendous importance on primary care, community care and long-term care,” said Sandra Phillips, Co-Lead of the RI Action Coalition, and Program Director of Passport to Practice. 

New Nurses who are interested in applying to year two of Passport to Practice can visit: http://www.steppingupri.org/nursing to learn more about the application process. Or candidates can call for information: 401-831-2125 or emailrbelhumeur@steppingupri.org. The deadline to apply has been extended to August  29. Candidates must be Rhode Island residents to apply.  Tuition to Passport to Practice is free.

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