Recruitment & Retention Remains a Priority at Oswego Health With a National Shortage of RNs, Oswego Health Offers Unique Incentives for Providing Care Locally

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Recruitment & Retention Remains a Priority at Oswego Health   
With a National Shortage of RNs, Oswego Health Offers Unique Incentives for Providing Care Locally

(Oswego, NY – May 3, 2021) The American Association of Colleges of Nursing shared recently that “the U.S. is projected to experience a shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs) that is expected to intensify as Baby Boomers age and the need for health care grows. Compounding the problem is the fact that nursing schools across the country are struggling to expand capacity to meet the rising demand for care given the national move toward healthcare reform.” 

Ranked among the top 5% in the nation for patient safety, often a tagline used in their recruitment efforts, Oswego Health is stepping up this year in particular in their recruitment and retention efforts and thinking “outside the box” to offer unique perks to their employees to entice healthcare workers to provide care locally, including:

The RN Tuition Assistance program is offered to current employees at Oswego Health looking to advance their training as a Registered Nurse. The program will reimburse employees up to $10,000 per year as they look to earn their Advanced Degree in Nursing, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, or Master of Science in Nursing.

“We know firsthand that a highly-educated nursing workforce strengthens the quality of care provided to patients,” stated Vice President of Human Resources, Marquand Brown. “Since launching this program at the start of 2020 we’ve already had nineteen employees receive tuition assistance, totaling over $75,000 in funding towards their education.

Among those who recently graduated and participated in the program, Stacy Steven shares “when the RN Tuition Assistance program became available, I was already halfway through receiving my Associates in Nursing. Honestly, I was just going to power through, but this program gave me much-needed financial relief. I saved so much money and headache by not having to take out a personal loan. This program is such a benefit for anyone who wants to grow in their career while working.”

Another new program just recently launched at Oswego Health is an Emergency Services Residency. This program offers on-the-job training for Graduate Nurses through a 12-month residency with a 3-month critical care rotation.  Throughout the fully compensated residency, candidates will have 150+ hours of classroom education including pharmacology, IV therapy, telemetry, critical care, TNCC, and ENCP, all with Structured clinical orientation with experienced preceptors.  The program offers the opportunity to advance from a GN to RN2 at the completion of residency.

“As a small community healthcare system our employees have opportunities for advancement across varying divisions, however, we knew we needed to identify programs that would personally benefit employees,” shared Director of Nursing, Melissa Purtell. “Whether that be helping to support their continuing education through tuition assistance or the experience of a residency program right out of college.”

Oswego Health has already had five employees complete the residency program.  

Recent residency graduate, Josh Pritchard, shares "During the program, I was able to experience several areas from maternity to behavioral health. This experience was critical to understanding how the health system works and truly provides me with a unique perspective in caring for my patients in the ED.”

New employees or those interested in working for Oswego Health are eligible to apply at www.oswegohealth.org. 

Photo Captions:

{1} (Participants left to right) Paige Blum, Jennifer Fassano, Josh Pritchard, Mitchal Pettit currently work in the Emergency Department at Oswego Health and participated in the Emergency Services Residency Program.

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