Children's Hospitals Today - Spring 2022 - 19

STAFFING / FEATURE
1.1 MILLION NEW REGISTERED NURSES ARE NEEDED
FOR EXPANSION AND REPLACEMENT OF RETIREES.
-U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
educators, nurses as leaders, nurses as innovators, nurses as
advocates, " says Talley. " We're looking to what that future
might be and embracing the opportunity to talk to our nurses
who are still here about why they want to stay-and then
working with our partners in human resources to do the hard
work about finding where the talent is and bringing them in. "
Easing the pain of the shortage
" I know we're talking about the nursing staffing shortages,
but the downstream effect of other staffing shortages is
that the nurses typically have to do some of that work, " says
Young. " When there are shortages in nutrition, in the lab or
in other clinical service areas, nurses might have to deliver
the trays to the patient's room, or they might have to take
the labs to the lab. "
Enter a program at Akron Children's called Helping Hands,
which is designed to maintain those critical services at their
normal level so the bedside clinicians can focus on the care
they need to give and not have to fill in some of those gaps,
Young says. Launched September 2021, Helping Hands is an
opt-in, flexible staffing program where any current staff,
clinical or non-clinical, can work additional hours in different
roles to support direct and indirect patient care. Those who
would like to participate in the program are matched with
opportunities for assignments based on current skill sets
and receive training to work across the hospital. To ensure
resources are allocated to areas with the greatest need, assignments
are made daily across the health system. So far,
more than 900 employees have expressed interest in being a
part of the program.
Children's Wisconsin also has adopted a Helping Hands
program to offset challenges nurses were facing particularly
during COVID surges-including helping to restock supplies,
room patients and clean high-touch areas. Korom and the
team also worked creatively with the human resources department
to bring on more nursing staff. " We rehired some of
our retired nurses and brought them back on to help us, " says
Staci Benz, director of human resources, Children's Wisconsin.
" Some nurses who were planning to retire stayed on in more of
an as-needed role. We called it our alumni squad. "
Recruiting and retaining
Workforce development-including mentoring programs
and care team wellness, including the addition of a spa-like
respite room-are a big focus at Children's National to help
recruit and retain talent. They've also turned the notion of the
" exit interview " on its head to better understand and meet the
needs of nurses. " We're doing 'stay' interviews, so we can track
individualized needs for staff to make progress on what is important
to them and to learn what would make the difference
between staying and leaving, " says Talley.
Paving the way to tomorrow
According to Young, children's hospitals must rethink the future
of nursing-and what the work environment looks like,
given the transition to a work-from-home model prompted
by the pandemic. " I'm thinking futuristically, but is it some
sort of hybrid model where there is a virtual nurse who's doing
some of the paperwork from home and you rotate people
through that? " says Young. " Maybe I work four hours a week
in that role and then come into the hospital for others? We really
have to think differently and creatively about how nursing
care, and health care in general, is delivered. "
In the meantime, Talley says all these challenges open an
exciting world of new opportunities for nurses in children's
hospitals. " This is our time, this is our calling, this is what we
have been trained to do, " says Talley. " We have a nation and
a world in desperate need of healing-and nurses have been
and will continue to be on the front line of that work. "
Megan McDonnell Busenbark is a freelance writer and
content strategist based in Omaha, Nebraska.
Send questions or comments to magazine@childrenshospitals.org.
CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS TODAY Spring 2022
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Children's Hospitals Today - Spring 2022

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