Nursing

Minnesota nurses challenged to change their

Nurse Leader Weekly, February 27, 2004

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Nurse Leader Weekly!

Minnesota nurses challenged to change their careers

 

With the nursing shortage bearing down heavily throughout the state, and low budgets hampering recruitment and retention, the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) called on its nurses to find solutions. Nurses from seven Minnesota hospitals were told to make their jobs more attractive to help ease their nursing shortage, so they did.

 

"We were convinced the best approach was to have nurses determine what the issues were, and what the solutions might be," MHA President Bruce Rueben, told the Minnesota Star Tribune. The MHA co-sponsored the project.

 

So far, the following strategies from three Minnesota hospitals have been implemented successfully:

 

Treating people with respect through communication

The Glencoe Regional Health Services team found its problems stemmed from improper communication. To solve the problem, the team started a program that awarded points to anyone seen being forthcoming and respectful. Staff with the most points earned prizes.

 

Discharge planning renovations

When patient surveys at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Wabasha revealed patients were not satisfied with their discharge, nurses also expressed some concerns about the procedure. Their solution was to meet with the patients' physical therapists and social workers. The nurses decided that they would start documenting patient information at admittance. This allows them to be more active in helping patients who are transferred to their next place of care.

 

Rewarding with growth

To improve recruitment and retention at Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville, nurses chose to increase and improve recognition. Now nurses who go the extra mile by working overtime or continuing their education can apply for special recognition, which also comes with a pay increase of an extra $1.50 to $3 an hour.

 

Source: Adapted from the Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com



Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Nurse Leader Weekly!

Most Popular

Related Articles