Unit 5 Staffing Paper

Unit 5 Staffing
Jennifer Sabo
Kaplan University

Unit 5 Staffing
As the new head nurse of this unit, I propose to reduce attrition by increasing nurse retention. I have been reviewing the exit interviews of the nurses that have come to this unit seeking experience just to move to another unit once they have completed the one year on this floor. I have developed a new plan for orientation which I would like to implement and analyze the results. I would like the outcome to produce a more loyal group of nurses willing to stay on this floor for many years and reduce our cost of training new graduate nurses as well as new nurses that come to our facility from another facility. I believe this proposal will boost staff morale as well as lower the frustration levels that a new nurse or graduate nurse encounters when beginning a new job.
Proposed Orientation Plan- Day Shift
The current plan for orientating new nurses allows for 80 hours to be used over a 2 week period and it involves some class room time. I will be eliminating the classroom time completely. The following is the new schedule for new nurses’ 2 week orientation schedule:
Day shift new hire 7am-3pm
1. Week One - assigned to shadow/work
with a nurse preceptor on the day shift 7am – 3pm. The new nurse will work the same hours as his/her preceptor not to exceed 40 hours.
2. Week Two – as follows:
Days 1 & 2 - The first 2 days the new nurse will be working with a nurse preceptor on the evening shift 3pm – 11pm. The new nurse will work the same hours as his/her preceptor not to exceed 16 hours. Day 3 - The new nurse will be working with a nurses preceptor on the night shift 11pm-7am.
Days 4 & 5 – The new nurse will return to the day shift, 7am- 3pm, with a nurse preceptor. There will be a day or 2 in between days 3 and days 4 & 5 to accommodate for shift change and sleep patterns.
**Please note that the new graduate nurse will follow the same pattern for the first 2 weeks and will return to the day shift, 7am-3pm, for the last, third week of orientation working with a nurse preceptor not to exceed 40 hours.** (Glens Falls Hospital, 2014). This model of orientation will allow for the new hire to meet as many of the current staff as possible and promote team work to help account for the level of nursing experience when functioning during a shortage of nurses.
“We are unaware of any staffing mandates that take in to account the skill or experience level of the nursing staff.” (West, Patrician, and Loan, 2012, p.26). Staffing just sees a number of nurses that are scheduled for the shift and not the experience that the nurse has which makes a huge difference when the ratio of patients-to-nurses creeps up beyond safe levels. This model promotes confidence amongst the team members. The new hire always has at least one peer to ask questions to as well as the charge nurse or assistant nurse
manager.
Benefits of Staff Retention
According to Jones and Gate (2007), the benefits of nurse retention directly affect, lower, or eliminate nurse turnover costs, vacancy costs, and reduces the potential for patient errors, reduces compromised quality of care as well as improves work place environment and increases productivity. Nurse retention lowers the amount of nurses calling off work which will reduce that amount of burned out nurses that have to carry the load of the shift. The nurses need to know that they can count on each other during their shifts. Lowering the costs associated with hiring staff due to a high turnover rate will allow the facility to use the money to offer incentives as the nurses gain experience. The incentives could be in the form of raises or paid time off. Safe staffing ratios would be almost eliminated as a result of nurse retention. “Minimum staffing ratios would not have been proposed in the first place had staffing abuses and the resultant declines in the quality of patient care not occurred in the past” (Marquis and Huston, 2012, p.382).
As a nurse that has experienced this type of orientation but on a much longer time period, it has helped me to get to know my co-workers. Regardless to what shift I work, I know the majority of the nurses that are assigned with me. I had many preceptors throughout my entire orientation. All of the people that I work with promote the team environment because we all know what happens or can happen during a shift. You can get bogged down real quick and it is nice to know that there is at least 1 nurse, if not more, besides the assistant nurse manager or the charge nurse, checking up on you to see if they can help. The majority of nurses that have left in the past year, left because of retirement. There were 2 nurses that left because of commuting distance, but they had been on the floor for over 5 years.

References

Glens Fall Hospital (2014). Big city medicine-home town care. New Orientation Packet.
Jones, C., & Gates, M. (2007). The costs and benefits of nurse turnover: a business case for nurse retention.
Online Journal of Issues In Nursing, 12(3). Retrieved from: http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/Tal
Marquis, B. & Huston, C. (2012). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing. (7th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
West, G., Patrician, P., & Loan, L. (2012). Staffing matters every shift. American Journal of Nursing vol 112, No. 12, p.22-26.