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Nurse Residency at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-All Saints

The transition from nursing school to professinal nursing practice may be a challenging time for a new graduate nurse.

Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare – All Saints is proud to offer the All Saints Nurse Residency Program to support new graduate nurses. WFH – All Saints was a partner with Marquette University and 40 other hospitals/healthcare organizations across the state of Wisconsin to develop this program. Since June 2007, All Saints has been sustaining this program without the support of the grant. As a graduate nurse involved in this program, you will join with other new nurses to develop your practice. You will learn from experienced nurses and other care providers who will share their knowledge and clinical experience with you.

This exciting and innovative program builds on your undergraduate education competencies through several key components:

1. Professional Development Plan: Educators at the centralized and decentralized levels and your preceptor will help you create an individualized learning plan to build your skills and develop competency in practice. The learning plan is tailored to your specific learning style and needs. It outlines specific activities and strategies to assist building capacity as a member of a team, organization, and the profession. You will continue to work on meeting the goals and objectives in your learning plan during your first year of practice.
2. Facilitated Learning Sessions: Monthly sessions will engage you in an interactive, enriching learning process. You will be provided the opportunity to reflect on your own practice by participating in various learning activities, such as writing clinical narratives, case study discussion, and dialogue with advanced practice nurses and other care providers. You will be guided through the application of knowledge to advance clinical judgment skills and ability to problem solve effectively. The learning sessions address topics that are crucial for new graduates to master including delegation, prioritization, communication with other healthcare professionals, and team management skills. This program also assists you in building skill and knowledge with complex patient populations.
3. Clinical Coaching: Leadership team members, your preceptor, and chosen mentors will help to guide your development and learning through your initial orientation period and then through the first 1 to 2 years of practice. They will help tie in take-aways for practice from monthly learning sessions to your own practice. You will be supported as you are encounter new patient care situations.

Requirements for participation: All new nursing graduates hired at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare – All Saints participate in the All Saints Nurse Residency Program.

New graduates in the Nurse Residency Program will be expected to:

1. Complete pre-work for the monthly learning sessions. This is NOT like school work but will help prepare you for the learning session discussions. The pre-work may include writing a clinical narrative, reading an article, and/or finding information on a website.
2. Be engaged in the learning process. This program is designed to facilitate your transition to professional practice.
3. Participate in program evaluation activities. Although the All Saints Nurse Residency Program is no longer under the auspices of grant funding, we are still collecting data on our new nursing graduates and how we are supporting you in your transition to practice. Thus there are some evaluation tools to complete; this is built into the learning sessions. This program does have IRB approval and any data collected is kept confidential.

FAQs:

1. Do I need to apply to the All Saints Nurse Residency Program? No. The program coordinator, Human Resources, and the patient care units’ leadership team members work closely to make sure that all new nursing graduates are included in this program.
2. When does the program begin? You will be in the program from your start date, in that the orientation is tailored to the new nursing graduates. Your preceptors will help to orient you to practice within the organization and on your unit, but they will also facilitate your critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The monthly learning sessions begin approximately two months after your start date and continue for one year. The All Saints Nurse Residency Program then continues into the 2nd year of practice by meeting about every four months to discuss practice experiences and further professional development.
3. Do I need to have taken the NCLEX before I start the program? You do not need to take the NCLEX before you start in the Nurse Residency Program; however, you must take the NCLEX within 90 days after graduation, per WI SBON regulations. Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare does offer preparation courses for NCLEX.
4. Can I still continue in the program if I do not pass NCLEX? Yes. This will be determined on a case-by-case basis in collaboration with your leadership team members.
5. Is the program voluntary? All new nursing graduates hired at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare – All Saints participate in the Nurse Residency Program.
6. How long are the monthly learning sessions? Each month for one year, you will attend a monthly learning session which is 7 hours long. You will be paid for attending that learning session. You will also receive 1 hour of pay for completing the pre-work prior to the learning session.
7. How long will the pre-work for the learning sessions take to complete? About 1 hour.
8. What topics are covered in the learning sessions? Some of the topics include: delegation, conflict resolution, care of complex patients with cardiovascular problems, respiratory problems, renal/kidney disease, diabetes; care of surgical patients-pre, intra- and post-op; special populations-bariatric, geriatric, obstetric, mental health. We also have a grant partnership agreement with Marquette University to use the computerized METI simulation model, Sim-Man, at All Saints for some of the learning sessions.
9. Who is involved with the monthly learning sessions? The coordinator of the program is Mary Trudell. Also all of the leadership team members are actively involved in this program, from supporting your participation through scheduling, facilitating small discussion groups, and supporting your professional development plan. Nurse practitioners, physicians, CNSs, educators and staff nurses participate in facilitating content presentations and discussions at the monthly learning sessions.
10. Do I need to attend every session? Attending the monthly learning sessions is considered part of your work time. If you are unable to attend, you will need to notify the program coordinator and a designated member of your leadership team. If you are unable to attend due to illness or other event, then the handouts and learning materials from the session will be sent to you via interoffice mail.
11. Will my manager work the sessions around my work schedule? You and your manager will discuss schedule arrangements to allow you to attend the learning sessions.
12. Will I be paid to attend the monthly learning sessions? Yes. You will be paid 8 hours per month - 7 hours for the monthly learning session and 1 hour for pre-work.
13. What is the difference between the Nurse Residency Program and regular orientation? The Nurse Residency Program is a structured program to facilitate transition to the professional role of the nurse. It is also an innovative way to discuss topics that typically may have been included in the first week of orientation; spreading topics and discussions out over a period of time allows new graduates to use their own experiences to build knowledge.
14. How will my participation in the Nurse Residency Program benefit me? Participation in the Nurse Residency Program benefits the new graduate through networking, learning from your new nurse colleagues and advanced practice nurses, and building on your own experiences in practice.

These materials have been adapted from the Wisconsin Nurse Residency Program (WNRP), which was supported by funds from the Division of Nursing, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources Services Administration, and Department of Health and Human Services under grant number D64HP03092. Used with permission from Marilyn Meyer Bratt, PhD, RN, WNRP Project Director and Marquette University.

For more information regarding the All Saints Nurse Residency program, please contact the program coordinator, Mary Trudell, BSN, RN at 262-687-4149 or by e-mail at mary.trudell@wfhc.org.