HERMISTON, Ore.-Good Shepherd Health Care System (GSHCS) celebrated its 2025 Fall Nurse Residency Cohort with a graduation ceremony on July 15.
“Today is about more than completing your residency,” said Clinical Educator Rachael Fisher, Nurse Residency Program Facilitator at GSHCS. “We’re here to celebrate your growth, resilience, courage, and the people who made the journey possible.”
Fisher went on to let the graduates know that kindness and compassion matter and are unchanging, emphasizing that nursing is ultimately about people, rather than tasks.
“Today is the beginning of the rest of your careers,” said Fisher. “You are all now my colleagues, and I’m proud to work alongside you. You are the future of nursing. I have no doubt that your patients are in good hands.”
The 14 nurses who completed the residency program worked in groups to present Grand Rounds Posters, each one exploring a different medical topic at graduation.
Project topics included “Improving Patient Access to the Good Shepherd Pharmacy Through an Emergency Department Wayfinding Map,” and “Improving Temperature Measurement Accuracy in Medical/Surgical patients,” among others, and were judged by a group of evaluators based on set criteria.
“To Good Shepherd Health Care System, thank you for investing not only in our education, but in our growth as professionals and as people,” said David Bautista, 2025 Fall Nurse Residency Cohort Representative.
The GSHCS Nurse Residency Program is a 12-month program that helps newly graduated nurses transition from the classroom to clinical practice through a network of support, instruction, hands-on experience and mentorship.
Nurses participating in the Residency Program have graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) or Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN), have passed the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), and have been hired into full-time RN positions at GSHCS.
Since starting in 2023, the GSHCS Nurse Residency Program has grown to include two cohorts of nurses a year, one in the fall and one in the spring, according to Fisher.
“Today we celebrate, but tomorrow or even later today, we return to the bedside,” Bautista reminded his fellow nurses. “Someone will receive devastating news. Someone will take their first breath, and someone may take their last. Someone will be terrified, and someone will be grateful. We have the extraordinary privilege of standing beside them in those moments. What an incredible calling.”
More information on the GSHCS Nurse Residency Program, including how to apply, is available online.
