Nurse Residency Program

Nurse residents are oriented to our system and gain experience in multiple departments and hospitals during the 2 month rotation period of the NRP.

The Nurse Residency Program (NRP) exists to support the mission and vision of West Tennessee Healthcare. The program is for new graduates from an accredited school of nursing with less than six months experience. Nurse residents (NR) have the option to be placed at any of our seven participating hospitals. The program is six months long, and consists of two phases.

Phase 1: 9 Weeks – Core Competencies and Rotations

• Find your team!
• Exposure to multiple departments based on areas of interest and career goals. See our workplace settings for nurse residency placement.
• Options to experience any hospital in our system

Phase 2: 7 Weeks (or more) – Home – Unit Orientation/Unit – Specific Competencies

• Continued Support from program leadership, individualized goals, educational classes and opportunities for continued engagement.
• Continued follow ups and Mentorship from Nurse Resident Coordinators, along with required educational classes and points of contact

Phase 3: Wrap Up 6 – Month Program

• Gain confidence while working as part of a nursing team that is built on a strong foundation
• Continued development in productive RN role

Nurse residents are employees of West Tennessee Healthcare and are expected to meet the requirements of any other employee regarding compliance to attendance, performance, policies, and procedures.

Nurse Residents are expected to:

• Commit to a full-time work schedule (36-48 hours per week)
• Attend all core classes and complete assignments within established timeframes
• Develop and utilize mentoring relationships that promote professional development
• Actively participate in general and specific learning experiences
• Demonstrate safe patient care behaviors and effective decision-making

West Tennessee Healthcare is making a significant investment in your education and competency as a new nurse. In exchange, you are expected to become a part of our care team who is engaged, committed to patient safety and patient satisfaction.

To be considered for the Nurse Residency Program, graduates must:

• Have graduated from an accredited school of nursing
• Be applying for the first formal work experience as a registered nurse
• Complete the West Tennessee Healthcare online application
• Submit a current resume outlining relevant clinical and work experience
• Attach a cover letter stating short-term and long-term goals for nursing career, reasons for interest in the Nursing Residency Program, and reasons for interest in working at West Tennessee Healthcare
• You may start in a Graduate Nurse role. However, once your Authorization to Test (ATT) is received, National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) should be scheduled as soon as possible
• Basic Life Support (BLS) certification must be from the American Heart Association and current preferable three months post-graduation

Applicants will be contacted with interview details, date, and time.

What to bring to your interview:

• Resume
• Cover letter
• Two letters of recommendation, one professional and one personal
• Current BLS card

West Tennessee Healthcare Nurse Residency is a great place to start your journey!

West Tennessee Healthcare is a system of seven hospitals, and serves as a clinical site for 8 schools of nursing, employs over 7,000 healthcare professionals, and serves approximately 500,000 residents. 

Cohorts begin January, June, and September.

• Jackson Chamber of Commerce
• Apartments.com

Qualified applicants must be fulltime, weekender, part-time classified as working at least 24 or more hours per week, N3 PRN, N4 PRN, or Team Builder WTH employees for six (6) consecutive months prior to the date of application. Employees must not be in default at the time of the application deadline to be considered.

Recipients of educational loans who satisfactorily complete their course of study and be-come licensed may repay the educational loan by working for West Tennessee Healthcare in a qualified position (as a registered nurse or in a nursing leadership/management role). For each six (6) months employees that are fulltime, weekender, or part-time classified as work-ing at least 24 hours a week with West Tennessee Healthcare in a qualified position, the sum of $2,000 of the debt will be forgiven. For PRN and Team Builder positions, forgiveness will be based upon the amount of hours that the employee works during the 6-month period (less than 500 hours will be in default), 500-1,039 hours will be forgiven $1,000, and 1,040 hours or greater will receive $2,000 forgiveness.

Application periods are March 1 – June 5 for fall applicants and Sept. 1 – Oct. 15 for spring applicants.
Call Amber Thoreson at (731) 265-1097 for more info.