Covenant Health Nurse Residency Program Earns National Accreditation with Distinction

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Covenant Health has earned Accreditation with Distinction from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for its Nurse Residency Program, recognizing evidence-based standards that strengthen nurse readiness, retention and patient care across the health system.

This designation, the highest recognition offered by ANCC's Practice Transition Accreditation Program (PTAP), affirms Covenant Health's commitment to supporting new nurses through a structured, yearlong transition-to-practice pathway. The program equips nurses with clinical decision-making skills, confidence, and leadership development, ensuring safer care and stronger teams across 10 Covenant Health sites.

"Covenant Health is committed to providing excellent continuing education for our nurses, who are critical to our mission to provide compassionate, patient-driven care," said Jim VanderSteeg, president and CEO of Covenant Health. "This distinguished recognition is gratifying and really demonstrates our top-tier standards and evidence-based results."

Covenant Health's yearlong Nurse Residency Program (NRP) was established to help new nurses develop skills, build confidence and gain experience in clinical decision-making, critical thinking and leadership.

"We have been really focused on developing collaborative strategies to recruit, train and support amazing nurses and we've seen a lot of success," said Debbi Honey, senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Covenant Health. "While much of the country is experiencing nursing shortages, we have more nurses preparing to join Covenant than ever before."

Appraisers with ANCC classified Covenant Health's clinical coaching program within the NRP as "best practice," highlighting its formal selection process and indicating its methods and strategies should be shared with other programs.

The "Accreditation with Distinction" designation lasts for five years and applies to 10 Covenant Health NRP sites: Cumberland Medical Center, Fort Loudoun Medical Center, Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, LeConte Medical Center, Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System, Parkwest Medical Center, Peninsula Behavioral Health, Covenant Health Roane and Thompson Cancer Survival Center.

Nurses in Covenant Health NRP cohorts may be trained in practice settings including medical, surgical, oncology, step-down, critical care, labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum (LDRP), operating room, same day/ambulatory procedure, psychiatric and emergency departments.

The program is structured to accommodate diverse learning styles and offers hands-on training using both real-life and hypothetical scenarios, including code strokes, code blues, rapid responses, equipment, IV placement and dressing changes.

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SOURCE Covenant Health