The AAS Re-design Program is a City University of New York (CUNY)-sponsored program to implement pre-apprenticeships to AAS students. This program was a collaboration between the College of Staten Island (CSI) and Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC). Since New York State does not recognize Nursing Apprenticeships yet, this pilot program is called a Post-Graduate Internship. This intensive internship spanned four weeks in June 2024, providing a pivotal transition for newly graduated AAS students as they started their professional postgraduate journey toward becoming licensed registered nurses. 

Participating nursing leadership included Chief Nursing Officer Rosemarie Stazzone, MSN, RN, NEA-BC; Assistant Vice President of Maternal Child Nursing and Nursing Education Victoria Orleman, MSN, RNC-OB, IBCLC; and Nurse Educators Valentina Elperin, MSN, APRN; Kelly Reinhold, MSN, RN; and Michel Polovetsky, MSN, CMSRN. They collaborated with Interim Dean of the School of Health Sciences H. Michael Dreher, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, and nursing faculty member Danielle Hunton, MA, RN-BC, CWCN, CCRN, CNE from CSI to develop this program. RUMC selected the five newly graduated students through interviews for placement across various specialty units. 

Student interns gained hands-on experience under the guidance of skilled preceptors. Jacob Ladin, Michael Gershengorin, and David Poggioli were mentored in intensive care units by preceptors Mark Yefymenko, BSN, RN, CCRN; Hossam Mohamed, BSN, RN; Randi Martinucci, MSN, CMSRN; and Johnna Pineda, BSN, RN. Megan Meagher and Danya Kaddah were mentored in the neonatal and pediatric ICU by Tina Pontebbi, MSN, RN, ONC; Gianna Cialino, BSN, RN; Lindsey Aanonsen, MSN, RN, FNP-BC; and Patty McNichol, ANM, RN.  

Throughout the program, student interns engaged in rigorous training and professional development activities. They began with a comprehensive two-day in-classroom orientation led by Elperin to enrich their preparation for professional nursing practice. Following this, they participated in an EKG crash course facilitated by Hunton, and simulation training with scenarios on “Harvey,” a cardiopulmonary simulator, led by Tara Ricciardi, MSN, RN, CCRN, in CSI’s Nursing Skills Lab. Toward the end of the program, student interns and RUMC RNs attended a Charge Nurse class led by CSI nursing faculty member Magalie Pantermarakis, EdD, RNC-MNN, FNP, IBCLC, CCE, culminating with a final day Preceptor class taught by Stephanie Erichsen, MSN, RN, A-GNP-C, where they had lunch attended by Stazzone and Vice President of Nursing at RUMC, Rita Magnuski, MSN, RN. 

This initiative not only facilitated the professional transition of these five AAS graduates, but also strengthened the educational partnership between RUMC and CSI, contributing to their development as future nursing leaders and enhancing their career opportunities in nursing.