Covenant Health has earned Accreditation with Distinction from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for its Nurse Residency Program, recognizing evidence-based standards that strengthen nurse readiness, retention, and patient care across the health system.
 
This designation, the highest recognition offered by ANCC’s Practice Transition Accreditation Program (PTAP), affirms Covenant Health’s commitment to supporting new nurses through a structured, yearlong transition-to-practice pathway. The program equips nurses with clinical decision-making skills, confidence, and leadership development, ensuring safer care and stronger teams across 10 Covenant Health sites.
 
“Covenant Health is committed to providing excellent continuing education for our nurses, who are critical to our mission to provide compassionate, patient-driven care,” Covenant Health President and CEO Jim VanderSteeg said. “This distinguished recognition is gratifying and really demonstrates our top-tier standards and evidence-based results.“
 
Covenant Health’s yearlong Nurse Residency Program (NRP) was established to help new nurses develop skills, build confidence and gain experience in clinical decision-making, critical thinking and leadership. All new nurses hired by Covenant Health are assigned to a cohort and one of the 10 sites comprising the NRP. Nurses are paid for residency sessions, which are considered part of a team member’s work schedule.
 
“We have been really focused on developing collaborative strategies to recruit, train and support amazing nurses and we’ve seen a lot of success,” said Debbi Honey, senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Covenant Health. “While much of the country is experiencing nursing shortages, we have more nurses preparing to join Covenant than ever before.”
 
Surveys of nurse participants revealed during the accreditation process indicated highly positive responses. Respondents praised the thorough training as well as the support, professionalism and ethical standards demonstrated by mentors.
Appraisers with ANCC classified Covenant Health’s clinical coaching program within the NRP as “best practice,” highlighting its formal selection process and indicating its methods and strategies should be shared with other programs.
 
The “Accreditation with Distinction” designation lasts for five years and applies to 10 Covenant Health NRP sites, including Cumberland Medical Center, Fort Loudoun Medical Center, Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, LeConte Medical Center, Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System, Parkwest Medical Center, Peninsula Behavioral Health, Covenant Health Roane and Thompson Cancer Survival Center.
 
Nurses in Covenant Health NRP cohorts may be trained in practice settings including medical, surgical, oncology, step-down, critical care, labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum (LDRP), operating room, same day/ambulatory procedure, psychiatric and emergency departments.
 
The program is structured to accommodate diverse learning styles and offers hands-on training using both real-life and hypothetical scenarios, including code strokes, code blues, rapid responses, equipment, IV placement and dressing changes. The cohorts also have expert guests teach everything from service legal concerns to service animals.
 
Upon successful completion of the residency and one year of employment, nurses receive an automatic promotion and a raise.