Nurse Residency

Words: 635
Pages: 3

Nursing Residency Programs and the Newly Graduated Nurse
Millions of people graduate from college every year. They sit in class listening to lectures and go home and study from textbooks for at least four years. All the sudden graduation comes and then they are expecting to find a job. One of the first interview questions asked in any job interview for most occupations is, “What is your past job experience,” and then that question is normally followed up by “How do you think that experience can apply to this job.” Most employers are looking for people with experience. Employers know experience is more important than what the student learned from a textbook. Someone might know every word from cover to cover of a textbook and might understand
…show more content…
Most of the time these students in internships and externships are performing tasks that do not really prepare them for what they will actually be doing when they get hired after graduation. This is especially true for newly graduated nurses. Many student nurses spend a good amount of time in clinical, skills lab, and might even get externships over the summer which are all extremely valuable, but that does not fully prepare a newly graduate nurse to be on the job on their own. There is some disconnect from what they learned at school and applying it on the job as a new nurse. Most newly graduated nurses feel like they are not very well prepared their first year on the job, and most agencies also agree that the newly graduated nurses are not prepared for the job demand (Trepanier, S., Mainous, R., Africa, L., & Shinners, J. 2017). This is where nursing residency programs can really be …show more content…
Residency programs are designed to get the newly graduate nurse comfortable with not only the new role that he or she has to take on but get the person comfortable learning all the rules, regulations, standards, etc. of their new employer. Getting thrown into a new job can be overwhelming. Residency programs pair the newly graduated nurse with an experienced nurse that can help calm the nurses’ nerves, help answer any questions the new nurse may have, and show them the ropes. Nurses in residency programs also learn how to cope with stress, they learn better communication skills, learn how to prioritize their work load, which also helps alleviate stress, but it also provides a better overall experience (Blevins, S. H. 2016). Pairing the nurse with a preceptor not only reduces the newly graduated nurse’s anxiety, but it also promotes a supportive environment in the workplace (Parsh, B., & Taylor, E. 2013). Residency programs are also proven to improve leadership skills, critical thinking skills, and over all confidence (Parsh, B., & Taylor, E.