The UAB School of Nursing and the Birmingham VA Healthcare System (BVAHCS) academic partnership expanded in 2017 to include a Post-Baccalaureate - Registered Nurse Residency (PB-RNR). This federally funded residency is a one-year, cohort-based training program. It is an academic-based residency program that provides training to newly licensed RNs in the role of trainee, prior to becoming a staff nurse.
The competency-based RN residency provides 100% protected training time aimed to enhance new graduate RN competency, confidence in practice, and leadership skills. The curriculum integrates both didactic and experiential learning activities. The curriculum model is designed to provide new graduate nurses an opportunity to apply knowledge and skills gained during prelicensure educational experiences across various clinical settings in Veterans Health Administration.
The PB-RNR curriculum is designed to increase the competence of entry level nurses in the VA Healthcare System by providing safe, quality health care — the UAB SON and the BVAHCS are positioned to prepare the next generation of nurses to care for America’s Veterans. Veterans can have unique health issues, and this RN Residency is one more way we can provide the most highly trained nurses possible at the bedside and in communities to care for them and their families. There is a tremendous amount of collaboration between the UAB School of Nursing and the BVAHCS. This innovative model of nursing education provides the building blocks for the future VA nursing workforce.
As part of the year-long, full-time Post-Baccalaureate Nurse Residency, these VHA trainees receive training in four phases geared towards putting the most highly educated nurses possible at the bedside and in communities to care for America's Veterans. Over the course of the year-long, full-time paid residency VHA trainees will receive training in four phases: two months in a primary care setting; six months in a medical-surgical setting; 10 weeks in a specialty care setting such as an Intensive Care Unit or Emergency Department; and six weeks in a leadership setting with nurse managers, clinical nurse leaders and others. This will help them develop effective decision-making and clinical leadership skills, as well as strategies to incorporate research and evidence into practice. It also allows them to practice as members of an interprofessional health care team.
For more information about the Post-Baccalaureate - Registered Nurse Residency, contact Dr. Randy Moore at rlmoore@uab.edu.