An Innovative Academic/Practice Partnership to Support Nursing Workforce Needs and Student Clinical Education.

ABSTRACT: Innovation is needed to solve nursing workforce issues during times of crisis. A collaborative effort between a hospital system and several universities resulted in the Bridge to Professional Practice Program that was implemented during a period of high patient volume and nursing student downtime. The program provided support for staffing needs and clinical hours to promote readiness for practice for students. The program evaluation outcomes and recommendations for improvement are addressed.

A Focus Group Study of Retirement-Age Nurses: Balancing Tension and a Love of Nursing in a Changing Healthcare Environment.

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to explore the experience of retirement-age nurses and identify decision-making factors and innovations to enhance retention. BACKGROUND: A national shortage of nurses has created challenges to preserving quality patient care and level of nursing competency and managing turnover costs. METHODS: A qualitative study using focus groups was conducted of nurses 55 years or older who were working or recently retired. Data were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim, with content analysis used to code in an iterative process until consensus was reached. RESULTS: The tension of balancing the love of patient care within a changing healthcare system was described. Patient acuity, competing roles, and the centrality of computers were stressors and integrally related. Flexibility in work schedules and new practice models were important to retirement decision making for work-life balance and retention. CONCLUSION: Passion for patient care dominated decisions to continue working. Innovations in practice models and scheduling offer opportunities to enhance the retention of experienced nurses.

An Innovative Workforce Initiative to Support New Graduate Nurses: Clinical Nurse Transition Coaches.

Nursing leaders at Yale New Haven Health System identified a need among new-graduate nurses for further support beyond their accredited new-graduate residency program. The Clinical Nurse Transition Coach (CNTC) program focused on moving from individual tasks to caring for the entire patient, fostered by focused mentoring and education. The CNTC nurses were experienced and worked with a team of 10 new-graduate nurses.

Wisdom Shared: Health System Nurse Executives Share Success Strategies for Building High-Performing Nursing Organizations.

With the evolution from single healthcare entities to health systems, the role of the system chief nurse executive (SCNE) has evolved. The SCNE leads at the highest executive level in the system and has continuum of care accountability. To effectively support the scope and breadth of the SCNE role, the organizational structure must contain key elements to ensure success. This article outlines the key elements of a system nursing organization and serves to aid in the development, improvement, and sustainability of successful system nursing structures.

Critical Care Nursing: A Key Constraint to COVID-19 Response and Healthcare Now and in the Future.

This article discusses the crucial role and dearth of critical care nurses in the United States highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. This challenge of sufficient critical care nursing resources existed before the pandemic, but now concern is heightened by the need for such crucial healthcare providers now and in the future. We present strategies to address the gap, as well as challenges inherent in the suggested approaches. The discussion is relevant as nurse leaders adapt to COVID-19 and other novel challenges in the future.