May 6, 2022 – The Nurse Staffing Think Tank – a diverse group of front-line nurses, nursing leaders and other key stakeholders including patient safety representative, CEO, CFO and Human Resources – has published a set of priorities and recommendations that provide immediate strategies that can be feasibly implemented in the short term (12-18 months) to help address the nurse staffing crisis.
The Think Tank was launched by Partners for Nurse Staffing, a collaboration between the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), American Nurses Association (ANA), American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL), Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).
Appropriate nurse staffing has been a challenge for decades. Nurses, policy-makers, and health care leaders have used various approaches to meet the increasing demand to ensure safe, quality patient care and nurse satisfaction, but consistent, effective solutions have remained elusive. The COVID-19 pandemic magnified these challenges and generated new barriers to appropriate staffing.
The Think Tank convened six times between January and March 2022 to tackle a wide range of issues related to the nurse staffing crisis. Major topics included the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nursing, and the importance of trust and transparency to build healthy work environments. Members also discussed the connection between nurses’ well-being and staff retention, along with the best ways to utilize scheduling flexibility, compensation, and delivery models, among other topics.
Demand for health services continues to rise. Addressing nurse staffing at health care organizations is critical to manage these needs. An established body of evidence shows that appropriate nurse staffing is correlated with improved patient outcomes and greater satisfaction for both patients and staff.
At the conclusion of its work, the Think Tank developed actionable and immediate strategies for acute and critical care practice settings that address the nurse staffing crisis. The team identified six priority areas that need urgent action:
- Healthy work environment
- Diversity, equity and inclusion
- Work schedule flexibility
- Stress injury continuum
- Innovative care delivery models
- Total compensation
The recommendations, actions and measurable outcomes for implementing each priority are now available on the Nurse Staffing Think Tank web page web page for health care leaders to access.
Insights from the Think Tank will help guide the efforts of the newly formed Nurse Staffing Task Force, which launched this month. In this next phase of work, the task force will focus specifically on driving a powerful dialogue on a national scale to develop mid-range to long-term sustainable solutions to the nurse staffing crisis. The task force brings together health care leaders, nurses, patient advocates, and representatives from numerous organizations, associations, and entities that are highly impacted and will provide evidence and insight on the nurse staffing crisis.
Appropriate nurse staffing levels are crucial to optimize the quality of patient care, improve care outcomes, sustain the nursing workforce, and improve the work environment. Learn more about the Nurse Staffing Think Tank and Task Force.