In the VHA Workforce and Succession Strategic Plan of 2016, VISN aggregated data cites Registered Nurse as the 2nd highest Mission Critical Occupation in FY 2016 through 2022.
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 and experience. The VHA has instituted multiple system-wide initiatives to enhance recruitment and retention of its nurse workforce. The Office of Nursing Service has proposed marketing and utilizing the RN Transition to Practice program for newer nurses, and utilizing scholarship programs to provide nurses with the opportunity for professional development. They also recommend collaborating with My VeHU to create more educational opportunities for nurses. Nurse retention is more expensive than you think. Click here for a summary of how RN turnover costs can add up at an average size medical facility. We thought you as a VHA reader may want to read about how The University of Texas Medical Branch assessed their needs for nurse leadership and took action! …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 experience. Bonificio added that the NCharge program could become an important asset in a comprehensive health system initiative to increase employee engagement and patient satisfaction. In fact, UTMB leaders believed the program was valuable enough to include some of its relevant results at the unit level in UTMB's recent reapplication for Magnet status. By putting in place formal training, UTMB hopes to make significant improvements not only in patient satisfaction, but also RN-to-RN communication, nurse sensitive indicators and workflow on the units. Comparisons of participant surveys conducted before classes began and after completion indicate positive movement in critical skills development across several of these areas. Most notably, when asked if they were cognizant of the key drivers of positive patient experience, only about 65% of respondents strongly agreed when surveyed before taking classes. After completion of the program, more than 85% strongly agreed with that statement. When asked if they understood the linkage between employee engagement and the patient experience, nearly 90% strongly agreed after the course, up from less than 70% before entering the program. Also, only about 60% of respondents strongly agreed they were cognizant of key drivers of an engaged team prior to NCharge. That number jumped to close to 90% after completion. When UTMB launched NCharge in December 2015, the hospital …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
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 and experience. The VHA has instituted multiple system-wide initiatives to enhance recruitment and retention of its nurse workforce. The Office of Nursing Service has proposed marketing and utilizing the RN Transition to Practice program for newer nurses, and utilizing scholarship programs to provide nurses with the opportunity for professional development. They also recommend collaborating with My VeHU to create more educational opportunities for nurses. Nurse retention is more expensive than you think. Click here for a summary of how RN turnover costs can add up at an average size medical facility. We thought you as a VHA reader may want to read about how The University of Texas Medical Branch assessed their needs for nurse leadership and took action! …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 experience. Bonificio added that the NCharge program could become an important asset in a comprehensive health system initiative to increase employee engagement and patient satisfaction. In fact, UTMB leaders believed the program was valuable enough to include some of its relevant results at the unit level in UTMB's recent reapplication for Magnet status. By putting in place formal training, UTMB hopes to make significant improvements not only in patient satisfaction, but also RN-to-RN communication, nurse sensitive indicators and workflow on the units. Comparisons of participant surveys conducted before classes began and after completion indicate positive movement in critical skills development across several of these areas. Most notably, when asked if they were cognizant of the key drivers of positive patient experience, only about 65% of respondents strongly agreed when surveyed before taking classes. After completion of the program, more than 85% strongly agreed with that statement. When asked if they understood the linkage between employee engagement and the patient experience, nearly 90% strongly agreed after the course, up from less than 70% before entering the program. Also, only about 60% of respondents strongly agreed they were cognizant of key drivers of an engaged team prior to NCharge. That number jumped to close to 90% after completion. When UTMB launched NCharge in December 2015, the hospital …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