Community-Based Transition Programs: California's Answer to the New-Graduate Hiring Crisis

In response to concerns about the nursing workforce, the California Institute for Nursing & Health Care has worked with regional foundations and community health-care partners to secure and re-grant funds to establish regional collaboratives in the San Francisco Bay Area. These collaboratives provide community-based transition programs for new registered nurse (RN) graduates who are unable to secure nursing jobs because of significant changes in the economy. Bringing together leaders from education, service, and the community, the collaboratives have created 12- to 18-week programs to retain new RN graduates in nursing and further develop their skills and competencies, so they will be valuable employees when the demand for hiring RNs inevitably grows again. The pilot transition programs aim to meet the needs of new RN graduates by offering extended experiential learning opportunities to develop their skills and competencies and to meet the needs of health-care delivery organizations by developing a better-prepared nursing workforce.