New Nurses Receive Top Training with Transition to Practice Program

Brooks continues to build on the world-class continuing education programs it provides to our clinical staff through the Brooks Institute of Higher Learning (IHL). Now, the IHL has turned its attention to Brooks’ new nurses residency program, revamped as the “Transition to Practice Nursing Program.” The program is run by Pamela Lambert, MSN, MBA, RN, CHSE, IHL’s nursing education and professional development leader. “My priority is to define and streamline what it means to be in nursing education and what we’re providing,” said Lambert. “The mission is to give nurses who are graduating, or just graduated and passing their licensure exam, a six-month transition to practice. They’re transitioning from an academic setting as a student nurse to a setting where suddenly our patients depend on them. That’s a lot of pressure. My goal is to deliver world-class, individualized education and holistic support. Newly licensed nurses are diverse in their needs, we want to make sure we’re elevating them so that they can elevate our patients.”

Lambert is structuring the residency program to follow the Brooks Interdisciplinary Practice Model. This system-wide model puts patients and families at the center of the principles of clinical knowledge; practice environment and workplace; interdisciplinary teams; and outcomes and quality; all tied together by compassion, caring, service, and teamwork. The residency will be a structured, immersive learning and mentoring experience in which high-level experts discuss clinical observations, link scenarios to current practices, present case studies, and use simulation to help the new nurses build their knowledge and skills in a dedicated, safe learning environment.

“Brooks is a ‘Magnet’ hospital, which is a designation and national recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC),” said Lambert. “We’re modeling our residency program to meet the high standards of the ANCC’s Practice Transition Accreditation Program (PTAP), which sets the global standard for residency or fellowship programs that transition nurses into new practice settings. When our residency becomes eligible for consideration, I’m confident we’ll qualify.”

Robert Rowe, PT, DPT, DMT, MHS, FAAOMPT, is the Executive Director of the Brooks Institute of Higher Learning. Dr. Rowe points out how this residency program will become another differentiator for Brooks. “This was an important evolutionary step for us within the IHL, in that we’ve previously focused on our therapists. We know that nursing is important and valuable, and we wanted to go into this new direction for nursing via the residency. Brooks is viewed now in the therapy world as a pinnacle – as one of the best post professional educational healthcare programs in the country. We want to do that for nursing, and expand into other disciplines with that as well. Ultimately, it’s going to be what provides the best value and benefit to our patients.”