Hackensack Meridian Health celebrates the first cohort of its Nurse Practitioner Residency Program. – HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH
Hackensack Meridian Health celebrated the first cohort of its Nurse Practitioner Residency Program, the health system announced on June 21.
The initiative is one of the first primary care nurse practitioner residency programs in New Jersey and one of only 36 programs in the United States to receive a grant from Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) Advanced Nursing Education (ANE) to support its development.
Together with academic partner Monmouth University, Hackensack Meridian developed the program in community-based primary care practices in counties across New Jersey following receipt of the HRSA ANE grant in 2019. The one-year program is designed to provide the new nurse practitioner with a unique educational opportunity to gain clinical experience in outpatient primary care, specialty medical practices, psychiatry and urgent care centers.
“This program has helped to effectively advance our commitment and ongoing efforts to train exceptional clinicians to deliver the highest quality of care to all communities, with a particular focus on our underserved and rural areas,” said Hackensack Meridian Health Chief Executive Officer Robert Garrett. “I congratulate our inaugural cohort of 10 Nurse Practitioners and look forward to the positive impact they will make in communities across our state.”
The nurse practitioners are: Evelyn Candalera, Saint Peter’s University, Master of Science in Nursing, 2019; Kathleen Croll, Rivier University, Family Nurse Practitioner, 2019; Eileen Janora, Walden University, MSN, 2019; Leo Neil Ligon, Walden University, MSN, 2019; Amanda Moroz, Fairleigh Dickinson University, MSN, 2020; Karla Oliveri, Ramapo College, MSN, 2019; Alexandra Stahl, Felician University, MSN, 2019; Marica Thomas, South University, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, 2019; Andrea Lynn, The College of New Jersey, 2019; Henal Shah, Rutgers School of Nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice, 2019.
Hackensack Meridian executive vice president and chief nurse executive Theresa Brodrick said, “As our first cohort exemplifies, Hackensack Meridian’s unique Nurse Practitioner Residency Program helps to increase and fine-tune critical skills through hands-on training and the guidance of trained preceptors. We are thrilled that the program has also enhanced our capacity to meet the diverse needs of the patients and communities we serve.”
