Mission Caritas: Developing an Evidence-Based Training and Mentoring Curriculum for Nurse Residents

New graduate nurses experience high stress during the transition to practice, increasing risk for burnout and early workforce attrition. This educational project evaluated a Caritas-based training and mentoring protocol grounded in Watson’s theory of human caring within a nurse residency program. Using a quasi-experimental evaluation design, residents participated in three structured mentoring sessions emphasizing caring behaviors, reflective practice, and self-care. Outcomes included high participant satisfaction, perceived applicability of Caritas principles, and engagement with reflective learning activities. Findings suggest that integrating caring science into nurse residency education is a feasible strategy to support nurse well-being, professional identity development, and retention-related factors.