New Jersey Action Coalition leaders are among the authors of a new book on an innovative post-acute care residency program that offers a practical approach to transitioning and retaining new nurses in post-acute care settings.

Published by Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI), Developing a Residency in Post-Acute Care, was written by the following Rutgers University School of Nursing faculty members: Edna Cadmus, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, co-lead of the New Jersey Action Coalition; Susan Salmond, EdD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, co-chair of the New Jersey Action Coalition’s education pillar; Linda Hassler, DNP, RN, GCNS-BC, FNGNA; Nancy Bohnarczyk, MA, RN, CNE; and Katherine Kuren Black, MSN, RN-BC.  It is based on lessons learned by the authors and their state partners who developed such a program in New Jersey and were lauded for the results.

In 2013, the New Jersey Action Coalition received $1.6 million from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to prepare new registered nurses for practice at state post-acute care facilities. The program successfully paired new nurse graduates with experienced nurse preceptors for two 12-month cohorts, and helped to improve care for residents in nursing homes and other facilities and stabilize the state’s nursing workforce.

The effort was to address health care’s shift as the U.S. population ages from acute care environments to post-acute and community settings, including long-term care, assisted living, rehabilitation, homecare, and hospice. New nurses in particular lack the specialized knowledge required for chronic care and gerontological care and are often unprepared to transition into post-acute settings.

The authors created a practical guide based on their experiences for other nurse educators. Read an excerpt from the book or find out more and purchase it on the STTI website.