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A Year of Gratitude
I am grateful for our Shared Nursing Leadership (SNL) and Shared Nursing Governance (SNG) Councils who were very active this past year, helping to shape the culture and practice of nursing. Council members were able to showcase their amazing quality improvement projects at the inaugural Evidence Based Practice Expo. The nursing leadership team continued to partner with SNL to shape our Nursing Strategic Plan, focusing on workforce stability, clinical excellence, workforce planning and career development, all of which showed significant improvement over the past year.
Workforce Stability and Workforce Planning
We recruited 77 new RNs to our facility and decreased our nursing turnover rate down to 17.4%. We partnered with Nebraska Wesleyan University and Purdue University Global to offer scholarships to nurses who would be joining our team. We also had the most Professional Nurse Achievement Pathway (PNAP) awards granted in the entire Midwest Division (47), showing an extremely engaged nursing workforce.
Career Development
We increased our BSN rate to 77.3% and had a 4% increase in nursing certification rate.
We launched our first Pipeline: A Nurse Leader Succession Program, celebrating four amazing aspiring nurse leaders who successfully completed the course. We were able to send many nursing managers and directors to transformational leadership courses and multiple bedside nurses to national conferences, furthering their knowledge and reinvigorating their passion for nursing.
Clinical Excellence
We have empowered our frontline nurses to have a seat at the table when decisions are made to nursing practice, having representatives on local, divisional, and national committees. We have adopted new nursing standards of practice, updated multiple policies utilizing best practices, and have continued to work to improve our hospital acquired infection (HAI) rates, fall rates, hospital acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) and our patient’s experience. We will be submitting for our 5th MAGNET designation this June as a result of this great work.
CHI Health St. Elizabeth is proud to be a four-time Magnet recognized Magnet facility. The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet Recognition Program® distinguishes health care organizations that meet rigorous standards for nursing excellence. This designation is the highest national honor for professional nursing practice.
“Magnet recognition is a tremendous honor and reflects our commitment to delivering the highest quality of care to this community,” said Amanda Tran, MSN/MBA RN, NPD-BS, Professional Practice and Magnet Coordinator. “To earn Magnet recognition once was a great accomplishment and an incredible source of pride for our nurses. Our repeated achievement of this credential underscores the foundation of excellence and values that drive our entire nursing staff to strive harder each day to meet the health care needs of the people we serve.”
To learn more about Magnet, visit the ANA’s Magnet Website: https://www.nursingworld.org/organizational-programs/magnet/
WHAT IS SHARED GOVERNANCE?
“The critical concept of nursing shared governance is shared decision making between the bedside nurses and nurse leaders, which includes areas such as resources, nursing research/evidence-based practice projects, new equipment purchases, and staffing. This type of shared process allows for active engagement throughout the healthcare team to promote positive patient outcomes and also creates a culture of positivity and inclusion, which benefits job satisfaction.” (McKnight & Moore, 2022)
PURPOSE
To empower nurses to use their clinical knowledge and expertise to develop, direct and sustain their autonomous professional practice in an effort to provide evidence-based, patient-centered care, emphasizing collaboration and an organizational approach.
MISSION
Improved patient outcomes and nursing practice environment derived from clinical nurses leading organizational change with support from nursing leaders in a shared decision making model that incorporates the branches of shared governance of evidence-based practice, professional practice and recruitment, retention & recognition.
BENEFITS OF HAVING A SHARED GOVERNANCE?
· Higher staff satisfaction & Retention
· Stronger staff ownership
· Improved work engagement
· Increased autonomy
· Stronger sense of meaning and purpose in work
· Improved patient outcomes
SHARED NURSING LEADERSHIP (SNL): ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL
· Provides opportunities for representation of all employees within the hospitals Division of Nursing
· Led by a clinical nurse who hold the role of SNL President
· SNL also has one nursing director, one manager and one educator on the council
· All active members have voting authority
SHARED NURSING GOVERANCE (SNG): UNIT LEVEL
· Provides opportunities for representation for all nursing employees at the unit level
· May include a mix of RNs, LPNs, CNAs, and SNTs
· SNG’s are led by their SNL chair for that unit
FOCUS AREAS
Recruitment, Retention & Recognition, Evidenced-Based Practice, and Professional Practice
PURPOSE
To establish and ensure an ongoing program of nursing research within CHI Health St Elizabeth through which nursing research proposals are reviewed and considered appropriate to be conducted at CHI Health St Elizabeth. Provides infrastructure, leadership and mentoring to nurse(s) in the participation and development of evidence-based and quality improvement projects and research studies.
SCOPE
Promote nursing research, evidence based practice, and quality improvement utilizing EBP algorithms and other research tools as a guideline. The council has the authority to make decisions about the feasibility of nursing research activities and practice that do not require additional human, fiscal or significant material resources. Items that fall outside of these parameters will either be authorized by the CNO sponsor or other identified responsible parties and CommonSpirit Health IRB where appropriate.
COMPLETED NURSING RESEARCH
· Novice Nurse Respiratory Educational Component's Impact on Confidence and Knowledge
· Investigation on the Impact of Professionalism on Healthcare Providers
· What Effect Does Timing of Discharge Education have on CHF Readmission Rates?
· Nurse Job Satisfaction and the Influence on Retention
· Comparison of Nurse Burnout in Acute Care COVID-19 Isolation Units vs. Non-COVID-19 Acute Care Units
· Enteral Tube Clogging and Medication Administration Techniques
· The Development of Compassionate Care in Pre-Licensure Baccalaureate Sudent Nurses