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Learning Objective 1: 1. The learner will be able to identify key components of a Charge Nurse Leadership Development Program.
Learning Objective 2: 2. The learner will be able to articulate the impact of a Charge Nurse Leadership Development Program on knowledge, turnover and satisfaction (nurses and patients).
Methods: A prospective program evaluation methodology was utilized. A program pre/post test and evaluation tool was utilized to measure changes in knowledge and program satisfaction. Data was extracted from an existing, organizational Human Resource database to determine the turnover rate. Overall organizational nurse turnover was measured by the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI®). Overall nurse satisfaction and results specific to RN job satisfaction, RN-RN interaction, and teamwork between co-workers was measured using the NDNQI® RN Satisfaction Survey. Patient satisfaction was measured using the Professional Research Consultants (PRC) Patient Perception survey pertaining to overall patient satisfaction with the quality of nursing care.
Results: A total of 128 charge nurses participated in the Charge Nurse Leadership Development Program. The average age of participants was 41.9 years with 57% of the group aged 40 years or older. Females comprised 96% of the participants. Participants had served in a charge nurse capacity on average 5.7 years with almost 50% in the 1-4.9 year range. There was a 4.3% mean increase between pre and post-test scores, with a mean increase of 16.3% for the delegation content. Seventy-eight percent of participants rated satisfaction with the program as Excellent and 22% rated it as above average. For the study period, charge nurse turnover was 5.47%. Overall RN turnover decreased from 18.1% to 16.3%. There was no significant difference for the NDNQI RN Satisfaction indicators evaluated. Patient satisfaction significantly increased (p<.001).
Conclusion: Findings from this study indicate that charge nurse leadership development may impact RN turnover and patient satisfaction.