VHA projects 39,256 RN losses from attrition over that six year span. Turnover is expected to be high because of early career quit rates, staffing shortages, voluntary retirement, staff satisfaction issues, and from the overall high mission critical nature of the RN position within VHA. On top of nurse attrition, the VHA continues to face increased competition for skilled nurses from private sector medical facilities. When competing against private sector facilities, recruitment and retention is particularly difficult for nurses with advanced professional skills, knowledge …show more content…
UTMB is a large, highly successful academic medical system in Galveston TX. When the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) assessed its training needs in late 2015, nursing leadership recognized a gap in charge nurse development. With no formal tools in place and a somewhat inconsistent structure to the Charge Nurse position, UTMB decided to take action. Catalyst Learning's NCharge® courses were chosen to bring more commonality and consistency to this vital hospital role for both current and aspiring Charge Nurses.
To date, 60 participants in three cohorts have completed all five NCharge courses: Charge Nurse Fundamentals; Critical Thinking; Leading Change in a Dynamic Climate; Supervisory Skills for Positive Outcomes; and Employee Engagement & The Patient Experience. Patient Care Facilitators (PCF), who have similar responsibilities to Certified Clinical Nurse Leaders, have also been included in this comprehensive professional development program. According to Barbara Bonificio, Director of Nursing Excellence, UTMB determined that leadership training could equally benefit the PCF role since Charge Nurses often look to PCFs as experts on the patient care …show more content…
"There were significant dollars connected to the people being selected, and I think that was impressive to them - that we are investing in them." UTMB nurse leaders are happy with the program response and results so far, and plan to continue offering it to PCFs and Charge Nurses. In fact, they envision further advantages across other nursing roles. "It would be beneficial if all nurses could understand challenges their charge nurse colleagues face," according to Bonificio. "If everyone understood these challenges, it would make the units run much more