To date, 50 new registered nurses have graduated from Sierra View Medical Center’s Vizient/AACN Nurse Residency Program™ throughout the last six cohorts since the program’s launch in 2017. Cohorts 7 and 8 are currently in session. The one-year program provides nurses guidance, support and mentorship. Sierra View’s clinical leadership team launched the Vizient/AACN Nurse Residency Program™ in an effort to help develop the next generation of nurse professionals right here in Porterville.
As of 2020, the Vizient/AACN Nurse Residency Program™ has above a 90% retention rate for all new residents after their first year of employment compared to the national average of 82.5%.* “It’s about transitioning the nurse from an academic program into practice,” says Sierra View’s Chief Nursing Officer Dr. Jeffery Hudson-Covolo, DNP. “It was a goal to bring a nationally-accredited nurse residency program to Porterville,” he says. “We were able to achieve that.”
To qualify for admission, graduates of an accredited nursing program must have a valid California Registered Nurse (RN) license or an Interim Permit Nurse (IPN) with a scheduled NCLEX testing date. Upon arrival, new nurses can expect a comprehensive onboarding experience including an introduction to Sierra View as an organization and the nursing division. They are then introduced to the individual unit where they will begin their training.
Sierra View Medical Center works to recruit local nursing talent and also welcomes nurse residents from anywhere in the country. The majority of newly graduated registered nurses who have completed the nurse residency program are from California’s Central Valley. 35 of the nurse residents that have been hired at Sierra View have come from Porterville College’s Nursing Program, six from the College of the Sequoias (COS) Nursing Program in Visalia and seven from San Joaquin Valley College’s Nursing Program.
“New nurse graduates are our future. We need to invest, support, guide and mentor them,” says Nurse Residency Program Coordinator Christine Williams MSN, RN, CCRN, PHN. Always centered on delivering high-quality care, Williams places an emphasis on staying up to date with quickly-changing evidence-based practices.
Throughout the year-long program, nurses are placed within a cohort that meets monthly. The three key areas of focus are patient outcomes, leadership, and professional development. Examples include robust training to adequately assess changes in patient conditions, such as within sepsis alert and rapid response scenarios.
The professional development of nurses begins on day one. Participation and completion of Sierra View’s Vizient/AACN Nurse Residency Program™ immediately positions nurses to be more competitive in the fast-changing nursing environment. Through this evidence-based program and curriculum, new nurses receive the guidance that will help make them successful and competent nurses.
Vizient/AACN Nurse Residency Program™ Cohort 6 RNs graduated in Spring of 2021 and included:
- Zahra Chekabab BS, RN
- Vanessa Lopez-Garcia BSN, RN
- Aubrey Greenamyer RN
- Roschelle Apa BSN, RN
- Amandeep Kaur BSN, RN
- David Perez BSN, RN
- Daisy Lopez RN
- Pauline Pham RN
- Jessica Lee BSN, RN
- Michael Chiang BSN, RN
- Jacqueline Sample BSN, RN
- Pratima Dulal BSN, RN
Vizient/AACN Nurse Residency Program™ Cohort 7 has a graduation date set for November 2021 and Cohort 8 has a graduation date set for April 2022.
New nurses interested in beginning their Registered Nursing career at Sierra View Medical Center may visit www.sierra-view.com/careers for the latest career opportunities in several departments including Emergency, Medical-Surgical and Maternal Child Health. SVMC Recruiter Lance Rowell may be reached directly at 559-788-6079 or by email, LRowell@sierra-view.com.