Nation’s First City-Led Nurse Residency Program Has Supported Staffing Needs at Over 28 New York City Health Care Facilities, Including 18 H+H Campuses
Our Bureau
New York, NY
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has celebrated a major milestone of 5,000 new registered nurses (RNs) trained through the Citywide Nurse Residency Program since its launch in 2019, putting thousands of New Yorkers on the path to fulfilling, family-sustaining careers. As the nation’s first city-led nurse residency consortium, the program offers on-the-job training and other support to recently graduated, newly hired RNs. It has been implemented at over 28 health care facilities across the city and supported hospitals in training and retaining nurses — saving them millions of dollars — while also helping new nurses succeed in their early careers. The program has helped average nurse retention exceed 96 percent year to date at particpating NYC Health + Hospitals (H+H) campuses, far surpassing the national average of 84 percent.
This milestone marks the first stop on Mayor Adams’ “Working People’s Tour,” continuing to create jobs and power New York City’s economic recovery after the city set an all-time record with 4.7 million total jobs, recovering all of the nearly 1 million jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program’s success also delivers on a delivering on a major health care component of Mayor Adams’ “Working People’s Agenda” to support 30,000 current and aspiring nurses over the next five years as they enter the nursing workforce, stay in the profession, and climb the career ladder.
“As we continue to grapple with effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re doing everything we can to bolster our health care system, and that starts with supporting the backbone of the industry: our nurses,” said Mayor Adams. “By providing hospitals with the resources they need to train and retain their nursing staff, our Citywide Nurse Residency Program has allowed us to make significant strides in improving health care for New Yorkers and making New York City work for working people. As we saw in 2020, nurses are essential to keeping New Yorkers healthy, and our investment to help nurses go from the classrooms to a hospital room will help keep New Yorkers healthy and prepared for the future.”
“Nurses are often the first people you see and one of the last with whom you interact when visiting the hospital or an outpatient setting,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom. “This residency program provides an important structure to support, attract, and retain the city’s nurses. Thank you to all our partners inside and outside government that make this work possible, and thank you to New York City’s nurses for supporting your fellow New Yorkers each and every day.”
An initiative of the New York Alliance for Careers in Healthcare and the Mayor’s Office of Talent and Workforce Development, and offered in partnership with the Greater New York Hospital Association, the Citywide Nurse Residency Program is proven to increase worker confidence, professional satisfaction, and retention. Stable, well-trained nursing professionals contribute to better patient care and reduce hospitals’ costs associated with recruitment, particularly in a time of acute nursing shortages after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program is designed to last one year, consisting of monthly seminars and reflection time for a small cohort of first-time nurses from the same hospital — translating to better professional and emotional outcomes. The program also includes structured flexibility for hospitals to reinforce new nurses’ academic training and to customize training to a facility’s unique operational and cultural needs.
“The Citywide Nurse Residency Program exemplifies our city’s unwavering dedication to supporting our health care workforce and improving patient care for every New Yorker,” said Wilhelmina Manzano, MA, RN, NEA-BC, group senior vice president and chief nursing executive, NewYork-Presbyterian. “We are proud to collaborate with this outstanding program and support new graduate nurses as they develop the knowledge and skills they need to succeed.”
“We are honored to celebrate with the New York City Mayor’s Office and the New York Alliance for Careers in Healthcare to recognize 5,000 nurses who completed the Vizient/AACN Nurse Residency Program™. Recognizing the unwavering commitment and ongoing pursuit of knowledge by these vital health care professionals is a noteworthy accomplishment, celebrating their dedication to delivering optimal patient care,” said Evy Olson, MSN, MBA, RN, vice president, Nursing Programs at Vizient. “Nurse residency programs are critical in helping newly licensed nurses transition into practice effectively, ultimately contributing to the well-being of the community, the health care organization, and the patients under their care.”
