Paper
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Impact of a Transdisciplinary Experiential Program on Caregiving on Staff Retention
Diane S. Raines, MSN, RN, CNAA, BC, Administration, Baptist Health System, Jacksonville FL, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| Learning Objective #1: Discuss the role of the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) in creating opportunities for transdisciplinary staff "engagement" through open learning. |
| Learning Objective #2: Identify two CNO decisions/actions that contribute to the success of a transdisciplinary experiential program. |
This presentation is a 5 year analysis of data from a CNO directed program, Spirit of CareGiving. TM This program, purchased and adapted to reflect the culture of the organization, enables participants to experience 7 distinct aspects of caregiving over a two day period, individually and in groups. More than 3000 staff, managers, and senior administrators from across all disciplines have attended. Accountability for the program rests with the CNO who also assumes a leadership role in its implementation. Data from our 5 years of experience provide beginning evidence to support the premise that “engagement” through experiential exercises aimed at assisting staff to create a “caring environment” and “culture of caring” that acknowledges and promotes the contributions of all disciplines to quality patient care, translates into more “engagement” with patients, transdisciplinary teamwork, staff retention, and positive patient outcomes. Since the program reflects the culture of the organization, the staff’s experiential learning is supported and continuously reinforced back in their work settings. The CNO will share expected and actual quarterly turnover rates by department, program costs, focus group data from participants and group leaders, and lessons learned. This model could easily be adapted to health care organizations of any size or geographic location.