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Massena Memorial Hospital program hires nurses right after graduation

Posted 7/22/16

MASSENA -- Massena Memorial Hospital is using a new program to hire nurses who are just graduating from nursing programs in the area. Through that, they recently introduced six to their nursing …

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Massena Memorial Hospital program hires nurses right after graduation

Posted

MASSENA -- Massena Memorial Hospital is using a new program to hire nurses who are just graduating from nursing programs in the area.

Through that, they recently introduced six to their nursing staff: Heather Hollister, Jessica Johnson, Megan McDonald, Katie McNeil, Erin Tassie and Rachel Ward.

“We are very excited to bring these six excellent graduate nurses to the MMH team,” said Ralene North, MMH chief nurse executive.

Johnson is a North Country Community College graduate. The other five graduated from SUNY Canton.

“We reached out to Debra Backus, nursing director of the RN program SUNY Canton and initially invited all [2016] graduates … to a meet and greet here at the hospital. Interested graduates then applied,” said Jake Spriggs, MMH public relations specialist. “All were screened using feedback from clinical instructors, and staff RN's here at MMH who had worked with the applicants during their clinical time at MMH. Not all applicants were accepted, a careful screening process was utilized hoping to ensure the success of the graduates and choosing those who we felt would best carry out the mission of MMH.”

The 90-day program includes classroom style education, direct patient care, simulated learning experiences, preceptor and staff development support and ongoing evaluation.

The program is what Spriggs describes as a “team approach” introducing the new nurses to all areas of the hospital, such as the intensive care unit, medical/surgical, maternity, infection prevention and others.

“This program is essentially, bridging the gap, utilizing a combined classroom and clinical experience to assist the new nurses in developing organizational and clinical skills while increasing your level of confidence and skills in customer relations,” according to Spriggs.