Poster Presentation
Friday, 21 July 2006
10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Friday, 21 July 2006
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
This presentation is part of : Poster Presentations III
Final Analysis: An Innovative Process for Work Environment Enhancement
Theresa Wurmser, PhD, MPH, RN, Jane Bliss-Holtz, DNSc, BC, Susan M. Torres, MSN, RN, BC, and Christine Hedges, PhD, RN. Ann May Center for Nursing, Meridian Health, Neptune, NJ, USA
Learning Objective #1: Discuss how making specific enhancements to the nursing work environment impact on nursing and patient outcomes in the acute care setting.
Learning Objective #2: Discuss the potential of incorporating the described processes to other health care environments.
In 2002, Meridian Health developed a model of nursing practice that was designed to address nurse recruitment and retention issues. Three prototype units, called “Model of Care” (MOC) units, were launched in January 2003 to operationalize  the nursing model. In late 2003, Meridian Health received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, New Jersey Health Initiatives program to further enhance the cultural environment of the Model of Care nursing units, which had operationalized “hard” components of the new model of care, including increased staffing,  “no-float” policies, dedicated nurse educators, and enhanced technology. The aim of the project, entitled “An Innovative Process for Work Environment Enhancement,” was to develop a process to  motivate nursing staff to actively participate in improvement of unit-based nurse-sensitive patient outcomes. This process began on three MOC units on three hospital campuses, then was replicated annually in four “second generation” units. Over the course of the two and one-half year grant period, a variety of  projects were designed and implemented by staff nurses with the help of a process specialist.  Nurses’ perception of work environment was used to represent cultural change in the work environment and was measured using the Pennsylvania Nurse Survey, which contains the Nursing Work Index-Revised (NWI-R) as a component. Measurement of all “first generation” MOC units occurred at the beginning of process implementation, and both MOC and “non-MOC” units were measured approximately one and two  years later, thus comparisons both across time and across units were performed. Additionally, nurse-sensitive quality indicators were trended.
This poster will present the final analysis and lessons learned during the two and one half years of the  RWJ New Jersey Initiatives grant. Processes developed and projects undertaken on the MOC units will be  highlighted and an examination of nurse and patient quality indicators will be presented.  

See more of Poster Presentations III
See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)