A Trauma-Informed Wellness Program for Newly Licensed Registered Nurses

The postpandemic nursing workforce crisis is characterized by escalating secondary traumatic stress (STS) and poor retention, particularly among newly licensed registered nurses. Traditional nurse residency programs often lack the specialized, trauma-informed support necessary to mitigate this threat to workforce stability. This quality improvement project developed and evaluated the Registered Nurse Residency Script for the Future, a 6-week trauma-informed wellness intervention. Thirty-six newly licensed registered nurses participated in the program, which focused on 3 program elements: a mandatory nurse-peer buddy system, volunteer celebration/compassion circles, and voluntary wellness check-ins/decompression huddles. STS was measured preintervention and postintervention using the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale. The Registered Nurse Residency Script for the Future program achieved a statistically significant reduction in overall STS (p = .004). Mean Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale scores dropped by 22.4% (from 45 to 36), moving the cohort below the clinical risk threshold. The percentage of participants at elevated risk decreased from 65.7% to 43.3%. The success of peer-based components demonstrates a necessary, scalable strategy for nurse leadership to mitigate trauma-related stress and significantly bolster early-career nurse retention.