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Program Overview

 

Why Postgraduate Nurse Practitioner Residency?

Our country faces an extraordinary demand for rural health primary care providers who are trained to deliver safe, effective, affordable and culturally competent care.

Integrated primary care is our best strategy to ensure a healthcare home for all Americans, including those with both physical and behavioral healthcare needs. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are the healthcare home for more than 27 million people in the U.S., and their primary care providers must be specialists in primary care for complex, underserved populations.

Nurse practitioners are critically important providers in FQHCs, but have had to assume their roles in primary care without the benefit of formal post-graduate residency training programs to support the transition from new nurse practitioner to expert provider.

  • FQHCs and their patients need expert primary care providers prepared to manage complex social and clinical concerns in the primary care setting.
  • Literature supports the perceived need and desire for post-graduate residency training for new NPs.
  • The majority of NPs choose primary care, but may be deterred from the FQHC setting by the gap between patient complexity and available support.
  • Post-graduate residency training provides new NPs with comprehensive, in depth training that primes them for success as primary care providers in FQHCs.
  • To prepare the next generation of leaders in primary care with competency in primary care transformation and the science of quality improvement for improved quality of care and health outcomes.
  • It’s time for a change. As we create our healthcare future, the time for residency training nurse practitioners, using the nation’s best federally qualified health centers as the classroom, is now!


Residency Program Details and Structure

Program Goals

Residency Program Details and Structure

  • One Year salaried residency with benefits
  • After residency, strongly encourage continued employment at Riggs CHC, if positions available or other rural healthcare centers or FQHCs
  • See Core Curricular elements for the detailed aspects of the program

Core Curricular Elements

  • Precepted Continuity Clinics – These are the cornerstone of the residency program. Residents develop their own patient panel while having a preceptor exclusively assigned to them. (40%)
  • Specialty Rotations – Month-long rotations in high-risk, high-volume, and high-burden areas most commonly encountered in FQHC settings. Rotations include: Behavioral Health, Dermatology, Orthopedics, Pediatrics, Women’s Health, Rural Health, Cardiology, Endocrinology. (20%)
  • Mentored Clinics – Residents focus on acute and episodic care and work as part of an integrated care team, seeing patients under the direction of a mentor PCP who is available for consultation. (20%)
  • Didactic Sessions – Formal learning sessions on a variety of complex clinical challenges most commonly encountered in FQHCs.
  • Quality Improvement Project – Projects focusing on developing knowledge and skills to improve care utilizing quality improvement tools and methods.
  • Community Engagement – Residents are provided opportunities to engage with their assigned community at all levels.
  • Participation in Ongoing Multi-Input Evaluation – Residents contribute to continuous programmatic improvement via assigned evaluations throughout the residency experience.

Compensation & Benefits

The residency is a 12 month, full-time salaried position, Riggs CHC offers a comprehensive benefits package including:
  • Competitive salary for residency
  • Group medical, dental and vison insurance
  • 401K retirement plan with substantial discretionary employer match and contribution
  • Paid time off
  • Post-residency employment assistance, if needed.
  • The nurse practitioner residents receive the same clinical and administrative support as other primary care providers including IT, billing, and others

Accreditation

Riggs Community Health Center’s Rural Health Nurse Practitioner Residency Program is structured around all requirements set forth by the accrediting body of the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Program accreditation is pending. Accreditation is expected to be granted by September of 2024.


Partnership

Riggs Community Health Center works collaboratively with the following community partners to ensure residents a robust and well-rounded residency experience.
  • Family Health Clinic
  • Valley Oaks Health
  • Purdue University School of Nursing
 
 
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