Kaiser Permanente Northern California recognized for nurse excellence

Kaiser Permanente Northern California’s nurse residency program received the Practice Transition Accreditation Program® (PTAP) with Distinction from the American Nurses Credentialing Center making it among the largest programs in the United States recognized for successfully training new nurses.

The internationally-renowned credentialing program recognizes health care organizations that promote nursing excellence and quality patient outcomes while providing safe, positive work environments. All 21 hospitals in Northern California participated in the regional nurse residency program and collectively they were all awarded the PTAP with Distinction.

Hospitals with the PTAP improve structures and processes by creating robust, comprehensive programs for nurses’ transitions into and within the profession.

“This is a testament to our culture of nursing excellence, and the incredible support our team provides new nurses,” said Benson Yeung, RN, Kaiser Permanente Northern California Regional Director for Patient Care Services. “We recognize the value this accreditation has not only for our nurse residents, but for our staff who work alongside them and the patients they care for.”

Nursing excellence leads to higher retention rates

This recognition validates the higher level of nursing practice at Kaiser Permanente. Using evidence-based curriculum, Kaiser Permanente nurse residents participate in a collaborative learning environment to successfully transition into clinical practice.

Nurse residents are given the opportunity to work with experienced staff and learn in acute care clinical settings to be better prepared and more confident as they enter the workforce – and most are choosing to remain at Kaiser Permanente.

Ninety-two percent of nurse residency graduates remain with Kaiser Permanente after one year, compared to the national average of just 62 percent.

What this has meant to nursing students

Keoni Gist, BSN, RN, a telemetry nurse at Kaiser Permanente Richmond, graduated from the nurse residency program in November 2022 and said she wanted to remain at Kaiser Permanente because of the opportunity to learn different nurse specialties, and the support she receives from her colleagues.

“I feel like I work with a community of people who actually care,” she said.

Gist is mentoring incoming residents to the program. Gist says it’s important to her to provide support to residents just like she received when she was in the program.

Quasana Banks, BSN, RN, will graduate from Kaiser Permanente’s nurse residency program this spring. She is working as a medical surgical nurse at Kaiser Permanente Oakland.

Banks said her desire to become a nurse stems from taking care of her grandmother after she got sick. Banks said she saw how the nurses at Kaiser Permanente Oakland took such great care of her grandmother and she realized she wanted to do the same for others.

Going through the residency program gave Banks the hands-on training and support she needed to further her skills as a nurse.

“This program is exactly what I feel a new nurse graduate needs to learn how to practice safely and be confident with their patient care as well as build the relationships with their fellow colleagues,” she said.