The first ever nurse residency in Pennsylvania to receive a prestigious “Accreditation with Distinction” from the American Nurses Credentialing Center has been recognized again.

Lehigh Valley Health Network’s Nurse Residency Program is the first nurse residency program in the state to be reaccredited for a second consecutive cycle.

A group of new graduates was among the first to learn the news on Oct. 25. Since the program’s first accreditation in 2018, 87% of graduates remain with LVHN.

“We are proud to offer this unique opportunity to newly licensed nurses and we are honored when they choose to stay with LVHN as they begin their professional nursing careers,” says Kim Jordan, DNP, RN, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, LVHN.

As a significant segment of the national nursing workforce is nearing retirement and nursing school enrollment is not growing fast enough to meet the projected demand for registered nurses, health care organizations across the U.S. are competing to recruit from a smaller pool of health care professionals.

While staffing challenges have increased demands on nurses and caretakers at hospitals across the country, LVHN’s Nurse Residency Program provides an environment for the next generation of nurses to grow as professionals who are empowered to be clinical leaders in the nursing profession.

“I started as a technical partner with LVHN and decided to pursue a career as a registered nurse,” says Kim Bartos, RN, a 2018 nurse resident graduate. “After earning my Bachelor of Science in Nursing, I started in the nurse residency program at LVHN as I began my role as a nurse on the transitional open-heart unit at LVH–Cedar Crest. I’m proud to work on the same unit to this day.”

The LVHN Nurse Residency Program is a yearlong development course that incorporates curriculum from Vizient and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. It is considered the gold standard among nurse residency programs and provides newly licensed nurses with a foundation for clinical leadership and critical thinking. LVHN’s Nurse Residency Program is available at all health network campuses.

“Given the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the pressures that all our nurses face in this moment, we are beyond proud of this announcement,” says Tiffany Epting, MSN, LVHN’s Director of Education Services. “This second Accreditation with Distinction sets us apart among the many nurse residency programs in Pennsylvania and is a tribute to the exceptional work done by our nurse residents.”

All newly licensed nurses who have graduated from an accredited nursing program within the previous 12 months and starting their first professional nursing role are eligible. This includes bachelor’s prepared nurses, associate degree and diploma nurses.