NURSING PROFESSIONAL
DEMOGRAPHICS
Certification Rate
Credentialing advances the profession of nursing by both encouraging and recognizing professional achievement. As healthcare becomes increasingly complex and challenging, the value of certification as a mark of excellence is more important than ever.
Achieving certification demonstrates to patients and the public that a nurse’s knowledge, skills and abilities meet rigorous national standards – and reflects a deep commitment to patient safety and advancing the profession of nursing.
BSN and Higher Rate
Increasing L5's Certification Rate
Submitted by Samantha Furgason, BSN, RN, PCCN, SCRN, Caritas Nurse, CN IV,
L5 AAU Neurology/Stroke/Epilepsy
In 2020, L5 had been unable to achieve a 90% goal for dysphagia documentation. A workgroup was assembled to review this quality concern. After completing a literature review, the L5 improvement team discovered that current evidence-based literature supports nursing certification leading to improved patient outcomes and adherence to stroke guidelines. The workgroup launched an innovative project to improve the expertise, and by extension patient outcomes, by increasing Stroke Certified Registered Nurse (SCRN) specialty certification rates for their unit.
The project was led by a group of staff nurses, L5's Clinical Nurse Specialist, management team, and unit’s Shared Leadership Council. To begin the project, staff were surveyed to ascertain barriers to specialty certification. From this feedback, tip sheets were created to address frequent questions and identified concerns. A dedicated locker was stocked with resources, including textbooks, practice questions, and other donated study materials. SCRN Review Courses were created, led by SCRN unit nurses and aligned with the SCRN test, and included subject matter experts. Meaningful recognition was initiated to track and celebrate newly certified staff. Visual displays of certified staff were created and displayed on the unit.
At the start of 2020 L5 had two SCRN-certified nurses. One year after initiating the project, five nurses were SCRN certified. By the end of 2021, L5 had twelve specialty certified nurses. Overall, L5 has witnessed a five-hundred percent increase of nurses holding a SCRN certification. Furthermore, L5 has successfully maintained engagement with continued offerings of a nurse-led review course. L5's sustainment target is twelve staff members certified per year and, ultimately, by May 2023, to have eighty percent of staff SCRN certified. Congratulations to L5 on this project that is aligned with Structural Empowerment, supports nurses' continual professional development, and is a wonderful opportunity to improve the team's knowledge, skills, and nursing practice.
Registered Nurse & Patient Care Coordinator (PCC) Program
Nursing retention is a hallmark of Magnet culture and transformational leadership. In September 2020, the Ambulatory Nursing department, in collaboration with the CEPD, launched the Registered Nurse (RN) and Patient Care Coordinator (PCC) Onboarding Program with the goals of promoting transformational leadership, facilitating successful transitions to the work environment, and improving employee retention.
Ambulatory Nursing and CEPD are excited to announce that, between September 2020 and December 2021, a total of 199 new hire employees completed the structured program, comprising of 52.3% RNs and 47.7% PCCs. In addition, the structured onboarding program appears to contribute to a reduction in turnover among new hire RNs and PCCs. Turnover rates for new hires in ambulatory care who completed the program between January and October 2021 showed an attrition rate of 0% for RNs and 8% for MAs, for a weighted overall average of 3.9% over the 10 months, compared to the overall baseline turnover rate of 22% in 2018.
Caritas in Action
F Ground
F Ground’s Shared Leadership Council (SLC) exhibited their exemplary professional practice by infusing Caring Science into their patient’s Valentine’s Day celebrations throughout February 2021. Since there are no visitors allowed during this time and many F Ground patients are immunosuppressed and cannot receive flowers, F Ground's SLC teamed up to bring loving kindness and establish a healing environment. Their SLC nurses created origami hearts, a chocolate heart, and an individualized Valentine note for each patient on the unit.
Ashley Louie, BSN, RN, ONS, CN II instructed her colleagues on the delicate art of making the origami hearts, all while integrating the Caritas processes of practicing loving-kindness, compassion and equanimity with self/other, and creating a healing environment at all levels. Thank you F Ground SLC for your resiliency and commitment to SHC's patients during the Valentine holiday and throughout these challenging times.
-Submitted by Judy Berry-Price, MSN, RN, BMTCN, PCM of F Ground