From LPN to Nurse Resident: Supporting Our Valued Nurses

A large academic healthcare system in the Southeastern United States answered the call from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN) to establish a transition to practice program for new graduate registered nurses (RN). This healthcare system had in place a multi-site nurse residency program (NRP) that received the “accredited with distinction” designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as part of their practice transition accreditation program (PTAP). In the summer of 2020, to better serve the healthcare needs of the community, this NRP expanded to include ambulatory care areas. This also aligned with the timing of the re-accreditation process of the ANCC PTAP, and the program was designed to meet all of the standards outlined in that program.

This healthcare system is also affiliated with a local university that offers a licensed practical nurse (LPN) to registered nurse (RN) degree program. Due to the high enrollment among the current LPN staff in the LPN-to-RN program, the leaders of the ambulatory care NRP recognized a need to modify the curriculum of the NRP to accommodate these staff members who wish to remain in their current clinic while transitioning to the RN role. Considerations for this population of nurse residents included work experience that could exempt them from some of the sessions offered to traditional bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree nurse residents, minimizing time away from the clinic since they are already established nurses who are essential to their clinic flow, and feedback from former LPN-to-RN nurse residents.

Extensive formal and informal evaluation was conducted with the LPN-to-RN nurse residents to determine the effectiveness of the program modifications for this population. These nurse residents offered insight regarding how the NRP has fostered their professional growth, offered needed support, and facilitated transition to their new RN role with ease. Moving forward, the ambulatory care NRP will offer multiple pathways to entry into the program to further ease the transition to practice and increase understanding among external and internal candidates. These pathways of entry include traditional BSN, LPN to RN, and existing staff (non-LPN) entry.