Nursing Career Development

From the first day you join the nursing team at Yale New Haven Hospital, we want to make sure we provide you with the opportunities, rewards and support you need to take your career to new heights. We are committed to helping you build a nursing career through programs dedicated to your professional development.

Our orientation, recognition and career development programs include:

For both full and part time new graduate nurses, we offer a one year Nurse Residency Program. This program allows our new graduate nurses to participate in monthly sessions to help develop clinical and leadership skills during their transition from nursing student to acute care professional nurse.

As a new member of our nursing team, you’ll take part in a comprehensive orientation program designed by our Nurse Managers and Nursing Education Specialists to be competency-based, preceptor-based, criteria-based and individually suited to your needs and interests. Each program is created so that, upon completion, you’ll have the knowledge, expertise and competency to provide the exceptional care our patients deserve. You’ll also have the opportunity to participate in extended orientation programs designed to develop specific skills necessary to work in specialty units.

  • Medical/Surgical (12-week Transition Program)
  • Labor and Birth (12-week Internship Program)
  • Oncology (12-week Transition Program)
  • Newborn ICU (12-week Internship Program)
  • Intensive Care Unit/Emergency Department (6-month Internship Program for new graduate nurses only)
  • Pediatric ICU (6-month Internship Program for new graduate nurses only)
  • Pediatric ICU (16-week Extended Orientation for experienced RNs)
  • Perioperative (8-month Training Program)
Our commitment to your career development and satisfaction is captured in our Recognition and Career Advancement Program (RCAP), designed to reward your efforts in helping us provide top-notch care and provide you with additional avenues for professional advancement. RCAP offers a 4-level professional ladder with promotions based on your knowledge and professional development including certifications and ongoing education.
If you are a nursing professional who has been away from hospital-based nursing for a while and are interested in a refresher course, a list of approved classes in CT are featured on the CT State Department of Public Health Website.

Our shadowing programs are available to nursing students, recent graduates and experienced RNs to provide potential employees with valuable observational time and in-depth perspective on specific patient care units within the hospital. For more information, please contact Volunteer Services at 203-688-2297.

Our clinical education programs play a key role in new employee orientation for both nursing and allied health specialties, providing unparalleled opportunities for personal and professional advancement. Programs are held on-site at the hospital and include a combination of competency-based and preceptor-based orientations, core curriculum classes for specific specialties and web-based training. Our Center for Professional Practice and Education also provides ongoing education and training (either centralized, service line-based or unit-based) for new employees and it oversees the continuing education for our current clinical nursing staff.

We offer a wide variety of programs specifically designed to ensure that all of our nurses have full access to the ongoing education and training they need to stay at the forefront of their chosen specialties, including:

  • Nursing Grand Rounds
  • Formal Education Programs
  • Tuition Reimbursement
  • Simulation Training
  • Nursing Education Channel (available on all units)
  • Affiliation with the Yale University School of Nursing

Nursing Research

We recognize that nurses who provide direct care to patients and their families are in the best position to ask challenging clinical questions.  The Nursing Research Committee provides a unique infrastructure that empowers nurses to answer their pressing clinical questions through involvement in EBP and research projects. Results of these staff-nurse driven projects accelerate the incorporation of new science and technology into YNHH nursing practice. Nurses are also supported to disseminate project results at local and national conferences. Several of these nurses have received national and international awards for their scholarly work and the majority go on to publish in peer reviewed journals.

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