Support.
It’s an integral part of advancing your health care career.
For 28 years, Sandy Hill MSN, RN, NPD has felt that support in her career at Integris Health.
And as the system’s manager for Transition to Practice, she wants to make sure every Integris employee feels it, too.
“If you want to get a future nursing degree or more advanced competency to change specialties within nursing, Integris has a lot of pathways to help you do that,” she said. “I feel that helps with retention because we can try to meet the needs of the nurse without them having to look elsewhere.
“We place a value on the person and help them meet their goals.”
And she’s excited the health system has so many different ways to help employees thrive.
Integris Health realizes that first-year may be difficult. That’s why there’s a nationally-accredited Nurse Residency Program in place to not only ease the transition to practice but to help you thrive.
“We try to help them recognize they aren’t going to know everything right out of school and that’s OK,” Hill said. “We’re going to help them get there. We also help them learn about their specialty or population-specific patients they are caring for because in some settings they don’t get a lot of experience in specialty areas during school.”
Transitioning to RN practice can be difficult and evidence supports Nurse Residency programs increase retention and job satisfaction among newly graduated RNs.
That’s why Integris Health hosts a year-long Nurse Residency Program for RN graduates and those with less than six months of licensure as an RN.
The Nurse Residency Program is an expanded orientation designed to help the new RN graduate make a smooth transition from student to a professional member of a healthcare team. This program is designed to help nurses more fully contribute to delivering the Most Challenging Healing. “I would say from a retention standpoint they are beneficial because Integris embraces the person as an employee to help them meet their goal and they see the benefit of the career pathway that integris can provide for them,” Hill said.
Recently the Integris Health Nurse Residency Program was awarded Accreditation with Distinction as a Practice Transition Accreditation Program (PTAP) by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). The distinction is the highest recognition awarded by the ANCC’s Accreditation Program.
Getting through nursing school may seem like a pipe dream for those who have to work.
Hill said Integris has support for that, too.
A unique partnership with Oklahoma Christian creates flexibility for candidates by allowing them to work in a hospital setting while receiving their necessary credits.
Integris University uses a transformational nursing education model that is moving away from traditional education to a more blended approach with hands-on learning and online instruction.
“Part of the uniqueness of this is the Oklahoma Christian program is online and targeted for working adults,” Hill said. “(The program is for) people who might not have the opportunity to get into health care because they can’t stop working full time because they’re either the breadwinner, need the benefits or both.”
“Sometimes it’s just a deterrent for going to nursing school.”
Hill said the nurse tech program advances students through three levels as they progress through their semesters of nursing school. Students are able to put into practice the skills they’ve learned while they are working and get compensated for those more advanced skills.
“I think it has become easier over the years,” Hill said of entering health care. “I would say historically those of us more seasoned nurses it was more about getting into nursing school and then finding a healthcare entity to work at where there has been a shift to come to work for a health care company and we’ll help you meet your goals of becoming a nurse.”
And one that provides the support you need to advance your career.
For more information about a career with INTEGRIS Health visit: https://integrisok.com/careers
