Value of Nurse Residency Programs in Retaining New Graduate Nurses and Their Potential Effect on the Nursing Shortage

Background: More than 1 million nurses are expected to retire in the next 10 to 15 years. Retaining new nurses is important to help decrease turnover, vacancies, and organizational cost. The objective of this review was to explore what the literature informs us regarding nurse residency programs implementation in acute care settings and their ability to retain nurses. Method: Through a search of the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Ovid Nursing Journals, and ProQuest Health and Medical Complete databases, 42 articles were selected for full review. Results: Twenty-six articles met the inclusion criteria; most studies were descriptive. Established programs with at least a 12-month time frame were slightly more effective at retention. However, retention was not sustained at year two. Conclusion: Future research should focus on the issues of sustaining retention in year two. If using proxy measurement tools, reliability and validity of those tools must be conducted. In addition, robust studies are needed to explore the effect of nurse residency programs on retention.