Curriculum Development and Implementation of a New Graduate Residency Program

Purpose: The PBNR program is designed to bridge baccalaureate education and professional nursing practice, building on the foundation of The Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 1998) and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) Standards for Accreditation of Post-Baccalaureate Nurse Residency Programs(2008). The program seeks to immerse the Nurse Residents in an environment to practice comprehensive patient care in a setting that seamlessly incorporates continuous quality assessment and improvement through evidence based practice. 

Methods: The NERVANA PBNR program was developed and implemented in conjuction with the Boston VA Healthcare system and 6 Academic Partners which created a unique academic-practice partnership. The Curriculum, which is the heart of the PBNR program, is organized into three temporal phases.

Phase I—Orientation (Months 0-3). During this Phase, new Nurse Residents participate in healthcare system new employee orientation, nursing orientation, and introduction to residency program requirements. 

Phase II—Professional and Leadership Development (Months 4-9). This phase focuses on evidence based practice (EBP), professional and leadership development program elements. The Nurse Resident is exposed to leadership nursing as well as interprofessional roles and responsibilities on the healthcare team.

  Phase III—Synthesis and Evaluation (Months 10-12). This phase focuses on refinement of the Nurse Resident’s clinical skills, critical thinking, and successful completion of competencies, and leadership development. The Nurse Resident synthesizes and integrates her or his development and training by applying knowledge learned to direct and indirect patient care. 

Program evaluations were completed by the Nurse Residents, Preceptors and Professional Mentors.  Participants were encouraged to evaluate the program and make recommendations for changes moving forward.

Results: The results of the Nurse Residents program evalutions demonstrated that 87.5% were very satisfied with the program.  The preceptors requested increased meetings with residents to discuss progrss and goals, but were overall satisfied with the program.  The professional mentors asked for increased clarity related to their roal.

Conclusion:

The program has been successful in: 1) the development of a collaborative program that builds upon the academic-practice partnership of NERVANA, 2) the development of competencies for new RNs which include clinical practice, leadership roles, professional development and evidence based practice, 3) an increased level of interprofessional engagement throughout  the VA BHS, 4)serving as a transitional bridge between the nursing models and content acquired in the NERVANA schools and the VA BHS, and 5) reducing the turnover among new nurses.  Therefore, the VA BSH will continue to provide high quality, patient-centered care to our veterans as we support the development of professional nurses into practice.