Nine CommonSpirit Health Mountain Region Hospitals Awarded National Accreditation for Nurse Residency Program

August 27, 2024

Centennial, Colo. (August 27, 2024) – CommonSpirit Health Mountain Region is pleased to announce that nine of the region’s hospitals have received accreditation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Practice Transition Accreditation Program (PTAP®). The Practice Transition Accreditation Program sets the global standard for residency or fellowship programs that transition registered nurses and advanced practice registered nurses into new practice settings.

The Mountain Region RN Residency Program received accreditation in the med/surg, critical care, step down, ED, labor & delivery and NICU tracks at the following hospitals:

  • St. Anthony Hospital, Lakewood, CO
  • St. Anthony North Hospital, Westminster, CO
  • Mercy Hospital, Durango, CO
  • St. Elizabeth Hospital, Fort Morgan, CO
  • St. Mary-Corwin Hospital, Pueblo, CO
  • St. Catherine Hospital - Dodge City, KS
  • St. Catherine Hospital - Garden City, KS
  • Penrose Hospital, Colorado Springs, CO
  • St. Francis Hospital, Colorado Springs, CO

“It’s an honor for our Mountain Region to be recognized for its Nurse Residency Program,” said Brenda Simpson, DNP, RN, CENP, Senior Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer. “Our region is proud to invest in career development for RNs by offering residency programs with a variety of curriculum. The program is delivered by leaders and mentors who care about our team’s success and help nurses become the nursing professional they’ve always envisioned. So far this program has successfully transitioned many newly licensed nurses from academia into professional nursing practice at one of our hospitals in Colorado, Kansas and Utah. This accreditation is a true testament of the valuable hands-on experience and personal support our program offers new nurses.”

To achieve PTAP accreditation, organizations must pass an extensive application process, including a detailed application, submission of written documentation in the form of a self-study, and a site visit, which was conducted virtually.

The ANCC appraiser noted many strengths of the Mountain Region’s program among them were:

  • RN Orientation Playbook is detailed and organized and serves as an excellent orientation tool.
  • Learners have the opportunity to orient across units to ensure the best fit.

The Mountain Region is proud to invest in career development for RNs by offering residency programs to new and experienced RNs. Our nurse residency programs offer a variety of curriculum, delivered by leaders and mentors and are offered at all our Mountain Region hospitals across Colorado, Kansas and Utah.

Learn more about the program here.

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About CommonSpirit

CommonSpirit Health is a nonprofit, Catholic health system dedicated to advancing health for all people. It was created in February 2019 by Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health. The Colorado/Kansas/Utah Division includes 20 hospitals, 240 physician practices and clinics, emergency and urgent care centers, home care and hospice services, and Flight For Life® Colorado. With its national office in Chicago and a team of over 175,000 employees and 25,000 physicians and advanced practice clinicians, CommonSpirit operates 142 hospitals and more than 2,200 care sites across 24 states. In FY 2022, CommonSpirit had revenues of $33.9 billion and provided $4.9 billion in charity care, community benefit, and unreimbursed government programs. Learn more at www.commonspirit.org.