The Vizient/AACN Nurse Residency Program™ is designed to empower newly licensed nurses through a successful transition into clinical practice by bridging the gap between the classroom and real-life nursing practice. The residency program prepares nurses with reflective practice skills by incorporating in-person and virtual interactive monthly workshop sessions

Ochsner’s nurse residency program supports nurses with every step; program mentors will help celebrate wins and overcome any challenges to transition to practice!

Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center RN Residency Program is accredited as a Practice Transition Program by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation in Practice Transition Programs. 

The current site included in this accreditation designation is: Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center.

The current workplace settings included in this accreditation designation are:

1. Medical
2. Surgical
3. Medical-Surgical
4. Oncology
5. Critical Care

The 12-month program promotes confidence and excellence in care through evidence-based learning and work experiences which foster critical thinking and professional growth with an assigned mentor. The basis of the program is to implement evidence-based practices to ease nurses from the classroom setting and acclimate to the real-world medical field to promote quality, safety and reduce turnover rates.

More than 500 nurse residents have participated since its inception in January 2016. The program is open to all graduating registered nurses, or any registered nurse with less than one year of experience in an acute-care setting, hired by Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center with licensing from an accredited school. Fall cohorts begin in August, and Spring cohorts begin in March. Ochsner University Hospital & Clinics will be initiating its first cohort Fall 2023.
For more specific details on the Ochsner Lafayette General Nurse Residency Program, email olg-rnresidencyprogram@ochsner.org.

• Hands-on learning
• Specialty unit interactive learning sessions
• Residency mentor

Ochsner Health:

• 12-weeks/36 planned shifts with an Ochsner-trained preceptor for med-surg & step-down units
• 16-weeks/ 48 planned shifts with an Ochsner-trained preceptor for critical care units
  

Ochsner Health Lafayette:

Unit-based orientation for 12-14 weeks is included for:

• Med-surg/telemetry
• ICU
• NICU
• Emergency departments

Labor & delivery has a unit-based orientation for 18 weeks. 

Alternate clinical rotations in ancillary departments such as wound care, physical therapy and respiratory therapy complement the unit orientation process to develop interprofessional knowledge and skills.

• New graduate RN and LPNs 
• Less than 1 year of experience

• Patient care coordination
• Patient care delivery, resource management and delegation
• Workplace and environmental safety
• Interprofessional communication
• End-of-life care & nursing ethics
• Health equity, advocacy and health policy
• Patient and family education
• Infection prevention and control
• Management the changing patient condition
• Quality and Safety
• Medication safety
• Professional development
• Resiliency, wellness & self-care
• Nursing research and evidence-based practice (EBP)
• Informatics