The Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded a $689,000 grant to Dr. Sylvia Bertram, RN, DNSc, a nurse researcher at Kaiser Permanente. The grant, entitled Nurse Education, Practice, and Retention: Internship and Residency Programs, will be used to help develop internship, mentoring, and residency programs to promote nurse retention.

Dr. Bertram has been the primary manager of the Preceptor Backfill Program at Kaiser Permanente. The Preceptor Backfill Program includes 40-96 hours of classroom instruction and a minimum of 224 hours of clinical instruction with an experienced preceptor. In its first year, the program yielded an 86% retention rate for new graduates at the end of their initial year of employment.

The primary purpose of the HRSA grant-enabled internship program is to improve the clinical orientation and training provided through the Preceptor Backfill Program. Dr. Bertram is currently conducting research to identify the factors vital to the Preceptor Backfill Program’s success, as well as target areas for improvement. By distinguishing the core elements that contribute to higher retention rates, Dr. Bertram hopes to further enable new graduate nurses to provide quality patient care from the beginning of their internship and to increase retention of new graduate nurses at the end their first and second years of employment. The program also addresses the needs and concerns of the nurses who precept the new graduates, for they are a valuable resource.

The proposed program additions will include:

• Incorporating feedback received from interns and participating staff nurses
• Providing advanced training for clinical preceptors
• Adding a mentoring component during Year 2
• Providing an NCLEX-RN preparation course for all nurse interns

Nurses are the primary source of care and support for patients. With the current nursing shortage, it is imperative that solutions be explored through programs that lead to increased nurse retention. With the help of this grant, Dr. Bertram can conduct research that enhances the implementation of educational strategies that assist new graduate nurses’ transition into their first professional jobs through an internship program. This program has proven to help increase retention rates. Dr. Bertram will concurrently be conducting research on the internship program, job satisfaction, and retention.

For more information, please contact us.

(From 1/14/04, edited 6/24/04)

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