TUPELO, Miss.—North Mississippi Medical Center’s Graduate Nurse Residency Program was recently reaccredited by the Practice Transition Accreditation Program of the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

The 12-month program is designed to help new nurses transition from nursing school into clinical practice with confidence.

After two weeks of hands-on skills training, nurses are paired with an experienced preceptor on their unit to continue learning in real-life settings. Additionally, they can shadow experienced nurses on other units, gaining diverse insights and experiences.

Residents attend monthly sessions covering crucial topics such as critical thinking, communication, quality, stress management, ethics, end-of-life care and professional development.

Launched in 2019, NMMC’s program became the first accredited program in Mississippi in 2021, and it remains one of only two programs statewide.

The 2024 cohort graduated in June with an impressive 90% completion rate, as 87 of the original 97 graduate nurses successfully completed the program. This achievement highlights the program’s effectiveness in significantly reduced nursing turnover rates.

Presently, 114 graduate nurses are enrolled in the 2025 cohort and are set to complete the residency program in June 2026.

For more information about nursing opportunities throughout North Mississippi Health Services, email recruit@nmhs.net.