Program Prepares New Nurses to Provide Bedside Care and Lead Rewarding Careers
HUDSON, N.Y., June 9, 2023 — Columbia Memorial Health (CMH) today announced the graduation of 10 nurses from CMH’s inaugural Nurse Residency training program. Nursing residency programs have been growing in hospitals across the nation as a means to better prepare new nurses to provide better patient care and enjoy greater job satisfaction.
The new graduates recently completed an intensive six-month curriculum at CMH focusing on a number of specific areas including quality improvement, patient safety, evidence-based care, professional development, communication skills, and adapting to and positively influencing workplace culture.
Stephanie Hisgen, CMH’s Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President for Patient and Clinical Services, said: “Our nurse residency program was designed to help new nurses transition from academic preparation to bedside competency. The nurse residency approach recognizes that new nurses need a far more structured and supported transition to bedside care so they can provide safer and higher quality care. The approach also better ensures new nurses can succeed, feel rewarded and advance in what is a dynamic and stressful environment.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, new to practice nurses are leaving the nursing profession at rate of nearly 17 percent within their first year and up to 30 percent within their first three years. Nurse residency programs have proven to be an effective counter to these troubling trends.
A study published by the Institute of Medicine entitled The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health concluded: “Learning experiences that build professional relationships, incorporate strong support from preceptors, mentors, and nursing leadership, provide respect, and build confidence, are all linked to positive perceptions of job satisfaction and are integral components of a healthy work environment which has been identified as a predictor of improved nursing retention.”
CMH President and CEO Dorothy Urschel said: “The combination of an aging population and a considerable national workforce shortage has placed a great deal of burden on our nurses, especially those who have just started their careers. We developed this program to better prepare our nurses to succeed clinically and professionally, and to respond to the needs of our nurses and nurse candidates to help them lead rewarding and fulfilling careers as caregivers.”
The next class of new nurses will begin training in July, with subsequent classes every six months thereafter.
Photo Caption
Columbia Memorial Health (CMH) recently announced the graduation of 10 nurses from CMH’s inaugural Nurse Residency training program. The new graduates recently completed an intensive six-month curriculum at CMH focusing on a number of specific areas including quality improvement, patient safety, evidence-based care, professional development, communication skills, and adapting to and positively influencing workplace culture. Pictured above is the inaugural CMH Nurse Residency class joined by several CMH nurse leaders.
About Columbia Memorial Health:
Columbia Memorial Health has served the Hudson Valley since 1893. Comprised of a 192-bed acute care hospital in Hudson, New York, and more than 40 primary care and specialty care centers throughout Columbia, Greene and Dutchess counties, Columbia Memorial Health provides services to more than 110,000 residents, with a focus on primary care, health education and advanced surgery. Columbia Memorial Health is a member of the Albany Med Health System, which also includes Albany Medical Center, Albany Medical College, Glens Falls Hospital, Saratoga Hospital, and the Visiting Nurses. The region’s largest locally governed health system, it has 1,520 beds, more than 800 physicians and 125 outpatient locations serving the region’s three million people.