Built after watching a nursing student try to find a program — and fail.
The Nurse Residency Directory is an independent, free catalog of post-licensure transition-to-practice programs for nurses: 1,213 programs across 49 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and 10 other countries, sourced from official accreditation registries and each program's own published page. Nothing on the site is paid placement, and no program can buy a listing, a rank, or a badge.
Why the Nurse Residency Directory exists
This site exists because Global Cyber Institute watched a nursing student try to find the right residency program — and fail. The student had a laptop open, a coffee, and three browser tabs: one bookmarked from a school counselor, one from a Reddit thread, one from a Google search that returned a paywall and a half-broken PDF. After two hours, they still couldn't tell which programs in their state were accepting new graduates, what cohorts started when, or how to apply.
That moment became the brief: build the thing that should have been there. Free for nurses. Always. Sourced from the same accreditation registries that programs themselves report into. Updated quarterly. No advertising trackers. No paywalls. No data brokers. A public-interest project of a 501(c)(3) non-profit, run on the smallest possible operational footprint so it can outlive any one person's involvement.
The first year of nursing decides who stays. A strong residency is the single most reliable thing that makes that year survivable. The least we can do is help students find the right one.
No paywall stands between a nursing student and a program that might launch their career. That is the promise. It will not break.
Related nursing resources
A residency is the start of a career, not the end of the planning. Nurses looking further ahead can explore doctoral education through our sister directory of DNP and PhD programs, while those drawn to flexible, high-paying assignments after their first year can browse our travel nursing directory. Each is an independent, free directory built on the same principle: sourced from official registries, no paywalls.
Three standards we apply to every listing.
Sourced from the registries
Every listing begins with an authoritative source — the ANCC PTAP directory, the Vizient/AACN cohort, the program's own page on the hospital's site, or an NHS Trust preceptorship publication. Generic aggregator content is rejected. We cite our sources.
Refreshed from the source on a schedule
There are no accounts here, no listing claims, and no submission channel. Each record is rebuilt from the registry and the program's own public page on a set schedule, and nothing is hand-edited in between. Every listing shows the date it was last sourced and where it came from, so you can judge it yourself rather than taking our word for it.
Transparently funded
Nothing on this site is paid placement. No program can buy a listing, a rank, or a badge — there are no tiers, no fees, and no advertising. Operating costs are carried by Global Cyber Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit. If that ever changes, this page changes first.
Where our program records come from.
What the Nurse Residency Directory will not do
A reference is only useful if it stays the same shape from one semester to the next. These are the lines the directory holds so that it can be trusted and forwarded without a second thought.
- No accounts, claims, or submissions. Listings are compiled from the ANCC PTAP and Vizient/AACN registries and each program's own public page, and refreshed on a schedule. Nobody can edit a listing from this site.
- No paid placement and no rankings. Every program is listed free and ordered by name, state, or specialty. Nothing here is for sale.
- No invented data. Where a registry or a program does not publish a detail, the page says so instead of filling the gap.
- No tracking. No cookies, no advertising pixels, no session replay. Page views are counted in aggregate only.
The first year of nursing decides who stays.
The right residency makes that year survivable.
Get in touch.
Press & partnerships
For media inquiries, partnership questions, and academic research collaboration.
hello [at] nurseresidencyprograms.comNurses & applicants
For general questions about the directory and how to use it.
tips [at] nurseresidencyprograms.com