In an effort to recruit more new nurses, the Veterans Administration (VA) Palo Alto Health Care System in CA has adopted the Versant R.N. Residency program.

The 18-week orientation program consists of 200 hours that combines classroom instruction, clinical training, and mentoring opportunities. The hope is that the extended program will create more comfortable, competent workers than are typically seen after an average, two-month orientation. Fifteen new graduates are already enrolled in the program.

Rolling out the program, hospital officials hope, will help combat the serious nursing shortage at the facility. California suffers from one of the worst vacancy rates in the country.

Sources: Palo Alto Daily News and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation