Party Like It’s 1999: RN Residency Celebrates 25 years
The party began at 6 a.m., but this crowd is more than accustomed to early starts.
Above the din of voices enthusiastically connecting, “Doo Wop” by Lauryn Hill plays overhead on the speakers. Streamers with 90s pop culture references adorn the ceiling while folks page through a collection of yearbooks, occasionally pausing to marvel at throwback photos of their friends and colleagues.
It’s an alumni reunion of sorts—marking 25 years since CHLA launched its RN Residency in Pediatrics, then called the RN Internship Program. In 1999, the RN Residency was one of the first initiatives of its kind. It has since welcomed 50 cohorts and more than 2,100 participants to train at CHLA.
“It’s hard to imagine the impact of these 25 years,” remarked CHLA President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Viviano at the event. “As one of the first to start this great legacy of developing postgraduate nurses for pediatric specialty care, this program is a model for the entire country.”
The RN Residency experience
The ultimate goal of the American Nurses Credentialing Center-accredited program is to ensure nurses gain proficiency, comfort and confidence working in a high-acuity specialized pediatric hospital setting. Over their first year of practice, participants attend classroom instruction, engage in “action days” via skills stations and simulations, are assigned to preceptorships in a specific hospital unit, and meet with a personal mentor for clinical and professional development.
“Back in 2000, most hospitals’ orientation programs were only six weeks long,” says Senior Nursing Development Specialist Margaux Chan, DNP, RN, who sports a “Party Like It’s 1999” tee. “This program gave me much more time to gain an understanding of what it’s really like to work as a nurse.”
Over the last 25 years, the RN Residency model has expanded to thousands of hospitals across the country—and become increasingly more competitive. Twice a year, anywhere from 500 to 800 new grads from across the country apply to score one of 50 spots in a CHLA RN Residency cohort.
“It’s a very competitive program,” says Chan. “You’ll be working alongside the best of the best. As an accredited program at one of the top pediatric hospitals in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report, applicants choose CHLA to gain experience with an incredibly wide range of patients and health conditions they won’t see anywhere else.”
Twenty-five years ago, Beth Zemetra, MHA, RN, was one such applicant, joining a cohort of 24 for the inaugural RN Residency.
Today, she’s a Clinical Services Manager for the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU) and oversees a team of 150.
“The RN Residency program is truly what made me successful,” Zemetra says, citing how mentors and colleagues empowered her to be successful and encouraged her to challenge herself. “It gave me a sense of belonging and confidence.”
Specialized training for stronger retention
A key driver behind the creation of the RN Residency was to address the high turnover rate for first-year nurses nationwide. In complex care settings, nurses can often feel like they’ve been thrown into the deep end and ultimately choose to leave the profession early.
Today, the program celebrates a 92% one-year retention rate. Additionally, 50% of CHLA staff with RN licenses were past RN Residents.
“It would have been difficult for me to succeed in a very high-acuity, detailed critical-care environment without this training,” says David Romberger, RN, MSN, a 2003 residency graduate who started his career in the CTICU and is now Executive Director of the Heart Institute. “The program provided a more intensive, structured way to build my skills. My mentors showed me where I could end up someday and sent me in a better direction.”
As part of the team charged with selecting new Heart Institute hires and guiding decisions to support new grads, Romberger has witnessed how RN Residency ensures long-term success for nurses in real time. “It can be really hard to pick the right people, but this program sets them up well.”
While today Romberger spends most of his time leading administration for 300 Heart Institute team members, the family legacy of nursing excellence continues: In March, his daughter Tatum graduated from the RN Residency and now works as a nurse in the Cancer and Blood Disease Institute.
“Working in a great field and making a daily difference in kids’ lives are all the things you want for your child,” Romberger says.
A legacy of next-level care
Over the next year, 100 more nursing graduates will embed themselves in the CHLA campus for their year-long residency and emerge equipped to excel in pediatric specialty.
Zemetra emphasizes that while the nursing profession can be filled with challenges, it's also incredibly rewarding. She reflects on how overwhelmed she felt stepping into the CTICU as a new graduate. “Take it one day at a time,” she says. “Know we’re here to support you in becoming your best professional self.”
While music choices, hairstyles and color options for scrubs have certainly evolved in the last 25 years, a key theme has remained from 1999 to today: the collective dedication to CHLA’s mission of creating hope and building healthier futures.
“Everyone across the organization is so committed to providing next-level care to patients and families—whether they’re at the bedside, in the main lobby or housekeeping,” says Zemetra. “It’s truly a special environment.”
The CHLA RN Residency in Pediatrics will welcome its 51st cohort this September.
