OhioHealth’s Residency Program Helps New Nurses Thrive
As hospitals everywhere deal with high turnover among new nurses, OhioHealth is taking a proactive approach to support nurses during their first year on the job, and it’s already making a real difference.
“The transition from nursing education to the real world, especially when you're supporting high-acuity patients, can be overwhelming,” said Le-Ann Harris, chief operations officer at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center. “At OhioHealth, we understand this. And we're constantly asking ourselves, ‘How can we better support new nurses and help them navigate that critical first year and beyond?’”
In response to this challenge, OhioHealth launched a Nursing Residency Program in 2023, designed to support every new nurse at all 16 of its hospitals.
“Each new nurse is paired with a mentor and preceptors to help them transition to bedside care, determine where they want to go in their careers and prepare them for the next step,” Harris said.
In addition to on-the-job mentorship, the program includes monthly classes where nurses continue to learn and refine their clinical skills. Topics range from medication safety to ethics to empathy, all while creating connections with fellow nurses who are navigating the same stage of their careers.
“Through this approach, new nurses are part of a peer group that is growing together and holding each other accountable,” Harris said.
The results speak for themselves. Nearly 1,500 new nurses have participated in the Nursing Residency Program so far, and the added support has helped reduce nursing turnover by 12 percent system-wide. The program also supports nurse well-being and drives better patient care.
“The benefits of investing in nursing onboarding are manifold: less burnout, greater retention and nurses who feel empowered to improve patient outcomes,” Harris said.
To hear more from Le-Ann on a variety of topics in nursing, be sure to follow her on LinkedIn.
