Nurse Residency Programs:

A review and discussion of creating nurse residency programs employing the recommendations from accrediting bodies to demonstrate organizational value. Utilizing an accredited framework to create nurse residency programs demonstrates organizational impact and value by ensuring evidence-based structures and plans are incorporated to accomplish patient safety and other organizational goals, meet healthy workplace goals, decrease turnover and improve nursing job satisfaction. Analysis includes a description of the Institute of Medicine report, nurse recruitment and retention, and associated costs; and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Practice Transition Program guides to developing the residency program. An example curricula and exploration of improvement indicators supports the conclusion that a successful transition to practice for nurses prepares them with both confidence and competence to deliver quality patient care.