Melissa Marrero, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CWCN

Melissa Marrero is the Program Director of the OMC Nurse Residency Program and a Nurse Educator in the Nursing Education Department. Melissa joined the OMC Nursing Ed team in 2023. In two years, she transformed a minimal hire learner program into a residency program that obtained the ANCC Practice Transition Accreditation Program (PTAP) with Distinction! She worked tirelessly to transition what we had into a formal program, with clear standards, guidelines and goals.

The Hire Learner Residency Program we now have, supports new nurses in all aspects preparing them to handle the demands of bedside nursing today and succeed during their first year and beyond in their careers. She is passionate about supporting all aspects of the nurse, including their mental health and wellbeing. Mel developed monthly in person classes that cover topics like social determinants of health, evidence-based practice, hands on skills, self-care for the novice nurse, reflective writing sessions, quality and risk presentations, and professional development sessions.

Mel communicates with the new nurses and their unit leadership often to ensure they are supported and meeting all program requirements. She partners with unit educators and the night educators to address issues with proper remediation plans and actionable goals. She is always looking at trends and ways to improve the program to provide the education and support our new nurses need.

She runs the PTAP advisory council working with faculty staff, human resource representatives, OMC leaders and current and past hire learners to always be evaluating and revising the program to meet the needs of new nurses. Mel always has data to present, updates to the program and what always impresses me the most is that she is looking for feedback and truly wants the council’s input. To do this, she creates ways to engage the group like her post-it PDSA exercise. She takes this feedback and works it into the program.

She also creates goals looking at more than just the hire learner nurse in the first year, but the year 2 nurse and nursing retention. From these sessions she has incorporated suggestions like encouraging hire learners to complete PACT, developing a med/surg boot camp, electronic tracking of requirements through the hire learner portal, night education sessions, and a skill self evaluation during orientation to address varied skill levels. She is also passionate about supporting them during their transition to night shift and provides them with resources.

As part of the program, the hire learners present an evidence-based project where she guides them to make sure they are prepared and succeed. She guides them in developing PICOT questions, completing John Hopkins literature reviews, and presentation skills.

Having attended many graduation ceremonies, it is clear the amount of work and time Mel puts into preparing these nurses and hosting these events. At the last graduation ceremony, I was sitting with a unit manager who goes “look at Mel, she is like a proud mother hen.” Mel really cares about these nurses and supports them anyway she can. She is often mentioned by them to their unit educators for being such a great mentor and support person.

She is also great resource to assist with putting together actionable goals and remediation plans as needed. She is great at coming up with innovative ideas to support both the educators and the nurses.

Melissa is also heavily involved in the nursing research council and promoting evidence-based practice and nursing research at OMC. She is passionate about professional development for herself and others. She is currently enrolled in a PhD program and is dually certified.

Mel often holds journal clubs for the nurses and professional development sessions for other nursing professional development practitioners. She is always willing to assist with classes in nursing education and onboarding and teaches at the nursing preceptor class. She is involved in almost all hospital wide events and the excel spreadsheet she made for basket raffles (which is her baby) is now used consistently to streamline the process.

She also presents at the NPD Academy for new educators, presenting on the residency program and in a panel discussion session sharing her expertise.

Mel is innovative and presented an idea for recruitment with our graduating nursing students and DEU students to hire them into hire learner positions. With HR she set up an event for team members waiting on ATT dates or license to come to an open house, tour the units and interview with nurse managers. The main purpose was to balance the hire learners during the year to avoid preceptor burn out and enhance consistency of orientation support. From these two events to date, 12+ nurses have been hired.

For all these reasons, and many more, including that she is a wonderful person and colleague, I think she deserves this award. She exemplifies the ANPD Scopes and Standards of a Nursing Professional Development specialist. She is a true role model, resource, and great colleague to work with.

Her work has a direct and lasting impact on newly hired nursing staff, who represent a significant portion of our nurses here at OMC. Through her dedication, she equips them with the knowledge, skills, confidence, and resources they need to provide safe, high-quality patient care. As a result, her efforts contribute to improved patient outcomes, enhanced patient safety, and increased staff satisfaction and retention.

In addition to her professional expertise, Mel is a person of integrity. She consistently stands up for what she knows is right and is a passionate advocate for excellence in nursing practice. Her commitment to supporting nurses, advancing professional development, and promoting the highest standards of patient care is evident in everything she does.

Mel is an exceptional Nursing Professional Development specialist and is truly deserving of this recognition.