Registered Nurse; RN) Residency Program Med​/Surg N: ACE-Acute Care Elderly

Winter 2026

Medical/Surgical Specialty - ACE (Acute Care Elderly)

The RN Residency Program is designed for the soon-to-be or newly licensed or an RN with less than one year of experience.

Our mission is to prepare RNs to successfully transition to practice by strengthening clinical skills and establishing a shared knowledge base that bridges the classroom academic experience with the hands‑on clinical hospital experience.

Medical/Surgical (ACE) 3-North:
Joining this forty-two-bed unit can be a very rewarding step to initially pursue, or to further expand on your already established career in med/surg nursing. With a patient population encompassing mostly medical patients, with roughly 65-70% of the patients being geriatric, the educational and professional opportunities abound. Caring for the elderly population has the potential to bring both personal and professional satisfaction and growth, as this subset of patients have a lot to offer from every facet of nursing.

Centra State Medical Center currently has an employment opportunity available for an RN Resident in the Medical/Surgical (ACE) 3-North unit. The RN Residency Program at Centra State is designed to support newly licensed Registered Nurses through a structured, twelve-month transition into professional practice. The program includes preceptorship, progressive clinical experience, didactic instruction, and simulation-based learning. With flexible orientation pathways tailored to individual needs, the residency fosters continued growth, confidence, and independence in the hospital setting.

As a Resident, you will:

• Completed over the course of 12 months, our program is focused on giving the newly licensed RN a strong foundation of key elements in the nursing profession such as:
  • Leadership
  • Critical Thinking
  • Professional Development
• Our goal is to provide a supportive environment that builds confidence and competence through:
  • Structured didactic content and curriculum
  • Simulated lab experiences led by committed staff
  • Informal mentoring and coaching
  • Dedicated clinical preceptors who guide learning to ensure you progress at your own pace and acquire skills necessary to establish clinical competency and independent practice
• Be hired as a full-time, benefit eligible employee
• Competitive starting pay and total rewards package
• Balance between classroom learning and on-the-floor exposure
• Be paired with a trained and experienced preceptor on your unit
• Given a gradual increase in responsibility over time
• Will receive off-unit experience with the Wound Care Team and Respiratory Therapy Department.
• Build on your clinical, technical, and critical thinking skills
• Learn effective delegation and organizational skills
• Constant engagement with assigned nurse educator, nurse manager and preceptor to ensure clinical skill & critical thinking development
• Supports operations by demonstrating ability and willingness to float between units as an RN and provides 1:1 patient observation when deemed necessary

• Must be a soon-to-be or newly licensed RN or have less than one year of working RN experience.
• Must have a BSN or ASN degree, passed the NCLEX and have a NJ RN license before the employment start date.
• Must have BLS certification.
• Starting salary $44.00 hr.
• All offers will be for Full Time only. No guarantee of shift (may be selected to work day or night shift upon completion of orientation)
• Start date will be December 7th (must be licensed by the start date).

Centra State Healthcare System, in partnership with Atlantic Health System, is a fully accredited, not-for-profit, community-based health system dedicated to providing comprehensive health services in central New Jersey. Beyond offering a wide…