Page 22 - SOUTH FLORIDA HOSPITAL NEWS MAY 2021

Sponsored by the
Salute to Nursing...

MHS Addressing Nursing Workforce Issues focus on professional growth,
evidence-based practices, and
leadership skills. RN Fellows
with Education, Professional Development are provided group support
within their specialty cohort
While nearly every healthcare system is ers, and an insider’s perspective into the ing/developing specialty and access to a designated
coping with a shortage of nurses and the culture of our organization. These have RN practitioners. With an nurse educator. Specialty pre-
increasing difficulty retaining ones already proven to be attractive incentives for STAR increasing number of nurs- ceptor education focuses on
on staff, there are strategic approaches that and EXCEL students that are also given es graduating from our res- understanding and meeting
can be implemented to address these preference when applying to the nursing idency program and other the unique needs of the expe-
ongoing workforce issues. At Memorial residency program. experienced RNs express- rienced RN as they transition
Healthcare System (MHS), we have had ing interest in learning their practice to new specialty
success by making education and profes- New Graduate Nurse new specialty areas, the fel- BY VALARIE GRUMME, areas.
sional growth key components of the Residency Program lowship program offers a PHD, RN, CCRN-K RN Fellows have the oppor-
effort to attract, retain, and grow-our-own New graduate nurses are being hired structured, evidence-based tunity to impact clinical prac-
RNs for difficult to recruit specialties. into a wide range of clinical units through- program to successfully transition nurses tice by developing and completing an evi-
out Memorial Healthcare System. The res- with at least one year of acute care experi- dence-based practice project. The program
Scholarship Opportunities idency program includes an evidence- ence. The program also provides a contin- also provides a unique invitation to a spe-
To attract nursing students and new based curriculum with monthly education ual pipeline to meet the growing needs of cialty certification review course upon
graduates, we’re offering scholarship pro- seminars, group cohesiveness support specialty practice areas that include critical completion of the fellowship as a further
grams to assist students seeking Bachelor activities, and completion of an evidence- care, emergency, oncology, surgical servic- incentive for RN Fellows to grow their
of Science (BSN) or Associate of Science to based research project. Regularly-updated es, and family birthplace. It is open to both expertise in specialty practice.
Bachelor of Science (ASN to BSN) nursing seminars focus on professional role devel- internal and external candidates. The combination of COVID-19’s impact,
degrees. Recipients are then guaranteed opment, clinical leadership skills, critical The focus on employee growth and baby boomer nurses retiring, and the
acceptance into our Vizient/AACN Nurse thinking, clinical judgment, nursing qual- development has been key to retaining ongoing shortage of new nurses entering
Residency Program™, a one-year struc- ity indicators, evidence-based practice, Memorial’s high quality, experienced RN the profession has made it more difficult to
tured program that supports them as they documentation, and resiliency. At a time workforce. For current employees, the RN maintain a staff of quality caregivers, but
transition from the academic learning when the national average for new nurse Fellowship Program is a formalized profes- the task is not impossible. Leaders just
environment to professional nursing prac- retention after one year of practice is sional development opportunity and need to be more creative in their approach
tice settings. We’ve also established pre- 82.5%, the Memorial Nurse Residency retention incentive for RNs desiring a tran- to identifying, recruiting, and retaining the
licensure partnerships with local academic program’s first-year retention is 95.1%, sition to specialty practice. best candidates.
institutions to attract top-performing exceeding even the Vizient/AACN bench- The program also includes significant
nursing students via our STAR and EXCEL mark of 91%. external outreach to recruit candidates Dr. Valarie Grumme is the director of
programs. These partnerships enable stu- that meet specialty needs. Highlights Memorial Healthcare System’s RN Fellowship
dents to gain valuable clinical experience Fellowship Training include a robust orientation to specialty program and an adjunct professor at Florida
in a variety of departments while also pro- Meanwhile, our RN Fellowship Program practice that involves classroom training, Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College
viding opportunities for professional role meets two key workforce objectives: simulation, and hands-on practice in the of Nursing. She is a regional leader, educator,
socialization, interaction with nurse lead- retaining experienced nurses and recruit- clinical environment. Bi-monthly seminars and researcher on nursing-related issues.

Recovering from the Challenges of Covid-19;

Restoring High Performing Bedside Nursing

November 5, 2021 at the Signature Grand in Davie, FL

Join us as the Nursing Consortium of South Florida convenes an in-person con-
ference to consider the challenges endured in the era of Covid and explores best
practices for healing and strengthening a workforce that was stressed and stretched
as never before. The program will begin with a presentation by highly acclaimed
nurse consultant, author, and speaker Donna Wright. Don’t miss what is cer-
tain to be a truly exceptional educational conference and networking opportunity.

SPONSOR & EXHIBITOR OPPORTUNITIES
To explore program sponsorship opportunities please go to
http://www.nursingconsortium.us/documents/SponsorshipForm.pdf
Keynote Speaker:
Donna Wright, MS, RN DON’T MISS OUT. REGISTER TODAY!
Creative Health Care You know you’ll want to attend, so why wait
Management to register? Register now and save. You
may now register for as little as $75.00 at
http://www.nursingconsortium.us/reg.php
Don’t delay! Our last conference set an
attendance record and this one is surely
to sell out early. Space is limited. http://nursingconsortium.us

22 May 2021 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News