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DULUTH — Essentia Health announced this week its new residency program for nurses has debuted in Duluth, Brainerd and Fargo.
The residency program consists of two cohorts of about 40 nurses each who recently graduated and have less than a year of nursing experience. The program includes one four-hour session each month for 12 months to build skills in specific departments.
The learning and clinical experiences include both inpatient and outpatient experiences, depending on the department, to help the nurses transition from school to their professional careers. According to Essentia, this programming is proven to improve patient outcomes.
The sessions, which will be taught by other Essentia nurses and leaders within the health care system, will focus on leadership, quality outcomes, professional roles and building upon nursing-school experiences with small group projects and breakout discussions. Lana Helgeson, a nursing professional development practitioner, is the program's lead educator.
“Ideally, at the end of the program, graduates will have transitioned from an advanced beginner to a competent professional in the clinical environment, strengthening his or her commitment to nursing as a professional career choice,” Helgeson said in the release.
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The nursing residency program is part of Essentia Health's Journey Towards Magnet Designation, which is given to organizations where nursing leaders successfully align their nursing strategic goals to improve the organization's patient outcomes.
