A Community of Collaboration: Improving Retention through Implementation of a Nurse Externship

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Title: A Community of Collaboration: Improving Retention through Implementation of a Nurse Externship

Promenade Ballroom (Long Beach Convention Center)
Kristi J. Wilkerson, MS, BSN, RN, RNC-NIC , Newborn Nursery, Baylor All Saints Medical Center-Andrews Women's Hospital, Fort Worth, TX
Shelley Faber, BSN, RN, RNC-NIC , Education, Baylor All Saints Medical Center - Andrews' Women's Hospital, Fort Worth, TX

Discipline: Newborn Care (N), Professional Issues (PI)

Learning Objectives:
  • Identify the benefits of a nurse externship
  • Describe the essential content of a nurse externship program
  • Examine the outcomes of a nurse externship program

  • Submission Description:
    Baylor All Saints Andrews Women’s Hospital, in collaboration with Texas Christian University, initiated a nurse extern pilot program entitled “Care of the Neonate”. While graduate nurses remain a primary resource pool for filling nurse vacancies, turnover rates for first year nurses are the highest among all nursing professionals. Literature suggests that implementation of an externship has the potential to improve retention rates by easing the transition of the new nurse into professional practice.

    The Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.