Duke Health launches latest new graduate nurse program

Duke Health has launched its latest new graduate nurse program in acute care, "GEMS." 

GEMS, or "Graduates: Engaged, Mastering, Succeeding," is an optional 18-month program designed to help new graduate nurses set a solid foundation for their careers in acute care at one of Duke Health’s three hospitals.

GEMS is the latest specialized new graduate nurse program administered by Duke Health, designed to support the professional growth and career advancement of new nurses. The program will run concurrent to the Nurse Residency Program, which all new graduate nurses hired at Duke Health are automatically enrolled in.

Following a general nursing orientation, new nurses in the program will orient to three different acute care units over an eight-week period, before interviewing for their unit preference for the remainder of the program. New nurses will also be assigned a mentor and participate in seminars on acute care topics and special experience observations to explore the patient continuum of care, beyond acute care.

Participating units include:

Duke Raleigh Hospital

Unit 3200 – Medical-Surgical Stepdown and Orthopedics
Unit 4200 - Medical Stepdown
Unit 5200 - Medical Oncology

Duke Regional Hospital

Unit 4-1 - General Medicine
Unit 5-1 - Medicine
Unit 5-2 - Cardiac Telemetry Stepdown
Unit 5-3 – Medical Oncology
Unit 6-3 - General Surgery Stepdown
Unit 7-1 - Orthopedics and Neuroscience

Duke University Hospital

Unit 2100 - General Surgery
Unit 2300 - General Medicine
Unit 4300 - General Medical
Unit 6DCT - Solid Organ Transplant
Unit 7800 - Intermediate Care
Unit 8300 - General Surgery

The program application is now live with the first cohort starting in July 2024.

For program questions, please contact Rebeca Pedlar, talent acquisition consultant, at Rebeca.Pedlar@duke.edu.