We're aware of the impending "reality shock" of being new RNs as second-career baccalaureate students, and we strongly support efforts to encourage professional development and minimize nurses' stress and job dissatisfaction. We agree that one-year nursing residency programs may help toward these goals.

Such programs can also aid in addressing the issues that will arise as more experienced nurses retire and are replaced with new graduates. Dracup and Morris, in an editorial titled "Nurse Residency Programs: Preparing for the Next Shift," cite 2004 statistics from the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses and estimate that there will be a "50% turnover in the nursing profession" by 2020. They correctly say, "We must plan so that no patient perishes because of the influx of new nurse graduates."1

In looking forward to our new careers we find ourselves gravitating toward institutions that will give us the most support and the greatest opportunity for a fulfilling career. Nursing residency programs benefit the nurse, the organization, and most important, the patient.

Bill Loughnane

Quincy, MA

Denise Schwerzler

Ashland, MA

Linda Steele

Needham, MA

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