THE PARTNERS FOR NURSE STAFFING THINK TANK
Recognizing the urgent nature of the nurse staffing shortage and the need for collaborative solutions, five professional organizations first came together in 2018 to form the Partners for Nurse Staffing. These organizations were the:
- American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN)
- American Nurses Association (ANA)
- American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL)
- Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA)
- Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
In January 2022, as the COVID-19 pandemic intensified the nurse staffing shortages, the Partners for Nurse Staffing Think Tank was launched to identify high-priority areas for recommendations that could be implemented within a 12—18 month timeframe. Click below to read the full Think Tank recommendations.
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OVERVIEW OF PRIORITY TOPICS AND RECOMMENDATIONS |
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HEALTHY WORK ENVIRONMENT |
· Elevate clinician psychological and physical safety to equal importance with patient safety through federal regulation. · Specialty nursing organizations should investigate evidence related to scope of practice and minimum staffing levels for patients in their specialty. |
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DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION (DEI) |
· Implement Inclusive Excellence, a change-focused iterative planning process whereby there is a deliberate integration of DEI ideals into leadership practices, daily operations, strategic planning, decision-making, resource allocation, and priorities. |
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WORK SCHEDULE FLEXIBILITY |
· Build a flexible workforce with flexible scheduling, flexible shifts, and flexible roles, which is a key step in how to fix staffing shortages in healthcare. |
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STRESS INJURY CONTINUUM |
· Address burnout, moral distress, and compassion fatigue as barriers to nurse retention. · Incorporate well-being of nurses as an organizational value. |
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INNOVATIVE CARE DELIVERY MODELS |
· Implement tribrid care delivery models that offer a holistic approach with three components, including onsite care delivery, IT integration of patient monitoring equipment, ambulatory access and virtual/remote care delivery. This approach will improve access, patient and staff experience, and resource management, with continuous measurement for improvement and adjustment for sustainability and support. |
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TOTAL COMPENSATION |
· Develop an organization-wide formalized and customizable total compensation program for nurses that is stratified based on market intelligence, generational needs, and an innovative and transparent pay philosophy that is inclusive of benefits, such as paid time off for self-care and wellness and wealth planning for all generations. |
After the release of the Think Tank recommendations in April 2022, the Nurse Staffing Task Force began work on developing long term solutions to address the shortage of nursing staff.
The result of this work provided an action plan for the necessary cultural shift in health care delivery to drive improved nurse retention, healthier work environments and better patient outcomes. Amidst the healthcare staffing shortage statistics, the work of the Think Tank set the foundation for the Nurse Staffing Task Force to begin work on long term recommendations by providing:
- Strategic direction on broad ideas to address the root causes of the nurse staffing shortage
- Expert input on workforce trends, challenges, and issues hindering progress toward feasible and practical staffing solutions
- Options for action with associated outcomes