Transition to Practice for Early Career RNs - Lessons from the RN - SOAR Program

A team from the CNMR visited Marquette University's School of Nursing and Midwifery in Milwaukee to find out more about a well established program that they facilitate for transition to practice registered nurses (RNs) in rural areas of the US.

The RN - SOAR program (Supporting, Onboarding and Retention of Rural Nurses Residency Program) focuses on supporting new RNs in their first year of practice in a rural health facility. Funded by the US Government's Health Resources and Administration grant program, RN - SOAR provides a 360 degree program of support for the RN, their preceptor and their nurse unit manager.

Led by A/Professor Mills, the team spent the day with Professor Marilyn Bratt and Sandi Van Den Heuvel learning about this excellent program. The time spent at Marquette also allowed for Ms Ylona Chun Tie (BNSc Co-ordinator) to meet with her counterpart to find about about their clinical placement model, and for the whole team including Professor Birks, Ms Adele Baldwin and Ms Jennifer Chamberlain - Salaun to tour Marquette's new state of the art clinical simulation centre. The CNMR is very grateful to everyone at Marquette for making us so welcome and sharing so many of their excellent resources with us.

http://research.jcu.edu.au/cnmr/news-and-events/news/transition-to-practice-for-early-career-rns-lessons-from-the-rn-soar-program