VNS Health’s Nurse Residency Program Wins HCA Trailblazer Award

Breaking: VNS Health will be formally presented with the 2023 New York State Home Care Association (HCA) Trailblazer Quality and Innovation Award at the HCA’s Annual Conference in May in Saratoga, New York.

VNS Health is being recognized for its innovative Nurse Residency Program and related RN Preceptor position. This unique program is designed to introduce recent nursing school graduates to the field of home health care nursing. It includes a mix of classroom and hands-on skills training, followed by an intensive in-field mentorship under the supervision of RN Preceptors.

The HCA Trailblazer Award that VNS Health is being honored with recognizes a home care or hospice agency, MLTC plan or team that has implemented an innovative clinical model, workforce supports, patient or staff education program, or other initiative with improved outcomes in terms of client satisfaction, population health improvement, and/or cost reduction or avoidance.

Accepting the award will be four VNS Health team members who were central to the Nurse Residency Program’s creation and its growth: Yvonne Eaddy, Vice President, Regional Patient Care Services, and Monica Cayemitte, Clinical Manager, Nurse Residency Program, Home Care, who oversee the Nurse Residency Program and led the program’s launch in March 2020; and Elizer Cooper-Audain, Associate Vice President, Education and Development and Alice Rainford, Clinical Education Manager, who led the Education and Professional Development Team’s crucial work in the developing the program’s curriculum and skills training.

The award also reflects the dedicated work of Human Resources’ Talent Acquisition team—which meets with representatives of a diverse set of nursing schools and also makes classroom presentations on VNS Health and career opportunities in community and home health nursing, in order to attract and recruit nurse graduates to the program—and of the Clinical Development Career Center, which was established by HR to increase the pipeline of clinical talent through a culture of learning that engages students, attracts new graduates, and advances employees up the clinical ladder. 

The program has had extremely positive results, serving to attract top-tier nursing graduates and accelerating their careers, while also giving rise to a robust team of RN Preceptors. “The goal is to give newly graduated nurses time to transition from an academic to a professional setting, to develop their critical thinking, and to go from novice to expert,” explains Yvonne. Following its successful launch in VNS Health’s Brooklyn region three years ago, the Nurse Residency Program recently expanded into the Bronx, as well.

“I want to congratulate the entire Nurse Residency Program team as well as our Education and HR teams on this tremendous honor,” said Andria Castellanos, EVP, Chief of Provider Services. “This award really demonstrates VNS Health’s leadership role in home health care, both in New York State and nationally.”