Residency or not?

Apply to everything and see who actually calls back. You may not even have a choice.

Every facility has some sort of training for new graduates, whether they call it a "residency", or not. See what each individual employer has to offer, then decide.

What a "residency" is has no consistent definition. Some organizations provide no mentoring or extra support whatsoever beyond a regular orientation and call it a "residency" program, which refers primarily to the probationary period that allows them to fire you for any reason they want.

Other organizations provide excellent extended mentoring and nursing student-to-independent nurse transition programs and chose not to call it a "residency program", mainly because it's been given a bad name by other institutions.

The take-away is that whether an organization offers something they call a "residency program" has absolutely no relevance to whether or not they provide a supportive environment for new-graduate RNs.

I graduated in May as well. I started right away at a large urban teaching hospital with magnet status that enrolled new grads into a mandatory "residency program." The program had watered-down content in my opinion. It involved monthly meetings where we watched videos on topics like self-care, delegation, finance, end of life care etc. Basically repeats of lectures I had in nursing school. The whole thing sounded lovely in theory, but the quality of education was poor in my opinion. Yes, please tell me more about self-care as I pinch myself to stay awake because it has been 20 hours since I last slept ?. Other than these monthly meetings (where I was half asleep after a 12 hour night shift), there was nothing more to the program. I got to a point where I felt my learning was tapering off. I was working with almost exclusively other new RNs and first-year residents. Not many seasoned folks to turn to. I decided to leave this teaching hospital, the biggest reason being I needed to be closer to my family.

One month ago I started a new job at a smaller regional medical center with no formal new grad residency program. I have learned SO much more in my first month here than I did in 6 months at the teaching hospital. My orientation at my new job is TWO weeks longer than my orientation was at my former job as a brand spanking new grad. There is truly a culture of excellence where I work. I feel supported and look forward to going to work most days. For the most part, people are receptive to newcomers. I have learned a lot from doctors, respiratory therapists, care managers, and other nurses all willing to take the time to teach me new things. These informal learning opportunities have been far more valuable to me than the silly videos we watched in nurse residency meetings at my last job.

I allowed titles and name recognition to sway my decision with my first job as a new grad. I made the mistake of assuming name recognition went hand in hand with quality nursing and professional development. Look at the big picture. I am a better nurse now because I am happier being closer to family working for a community hospital where I have the opportunity to build relationships with my colleagues. I did some serious investigative work before taking this position. I considered several area hospitals and talked with people I knew to get an idea of what the culture was like at each place. Long story short, bigger is not always better. It really depends on what YOU are looking for and where you are going to have balance and QOL. I think the previous posters hit the nail on the head, nurse residency is a loose term. What exactly does the program entail and how would that be any different from the orientation you would receive as a new grad elsewhere? Good luck to you!