RIC nurse residency program at Providence VA receives five-year accreditation

THE ENTRY-to-practice nurse residency program at Providence’s VA Medical Center, operated through Rhode Island College’s School of Nursing, became the first school in the Ocean State and one of 10 VA-affiliated programs in the nation to receive a five-year accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. / COURTESY RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE
THE ENTRY-to-practice nurse residency program at Providence’s VA Medical Center, operated through Rhode Island College’s School of Nursing, became the first school in the Ocean State and one of 10 VA-affiliated programs in the nation to receive a five-year accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. / COURTESY RHODE ISLAND COLLEGE

PROVIDENCE – The entry-to-practice nurse residency program at Providence’s VA Medical Center, operated through Rhode Island College’s School of Nursing, became the first school in the Ocean State and one of 10 VA-affiliated programs in the nation to receive a five-year accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

CCNE, the “gold standard” for nursing accreditation as one RIC professor said, evaluated the program on four benchmark measures: quality of faculty, institutional commitment and resources from the VA and RIC School of Nursing, strength of curriculum and program effectiveness.

The program was formed in 2013 and is led by RIC’s assistant professor of nursing Patricia Calvert, and the VA’s Tamara DeSousa, coordinator of the post-baccalaureate nurse residency.

Each year up to 10 nurse residents, who have applied and maintained a minimum of a B in all of their classes, are chosen for participation. Nurse residency students learn how to manage the delivery of patient care, to effectively communicate with fellow health care team members and about ethical end-of-life decision making.

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Joanne Costello, a school of nursing professor, said students who complete the RIC program are highly sought after.

“People seek out our students after graduation because they know RIC nursing grads are going to have a high quality of performance,’’ she said.

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