11 local nurses graduate from first-ever residency program

WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) – Eleven first year nurses graduated from WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital’s first-ever nurse residency program this morning.

This is the program’s first cohort, and they met with mentors every month to learn about a variety of topics.

Some discussions included building communication skills with co-workers and patients, evidence-based research, emergency management, patient safety, and even stress management and self-care practices.

Many nurses say the first year on the job is the hardest.

According to a press release, some data reveals 17% of nurses leave the profession within their first year due to the high stress of the job.

“Our first ever nurse residency program for WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital. The program is designed to help the transition from student to nurse. That first year is very, very difficult. And as everyone knows, we have difficulty retaining our nurses that first year. And so, we really wanted to build something to help them both professionally and personally build resilience and compassion and empathy.”

Jennifer Riley | Chief Nursing Officer, WVU Medicine Wheeling & Reynolds Memorial Hospitals*

The program was implemented to help new nurses transition from college into the workforce, build morale and commitment which can help with nurse retention rates.

There are four other cohorts for this program at Wheeling Hospital with the next one beginning this June.

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