NPDS Catherine Maslan, RN, reviewed a piece of equipment with Julian Beach, a clinical technician on the SLA2 Surgery unit at Yale New Haven Hospital’s Saint Raphael Campus. In addition to working with care associates and experienced nurses, Maslan is part of a team that supports new graduate nurses “to ensure they’re set up to succeed.”
Yale New Haven Health System has more than 9,770 nurses practicing in more than 200 locations throughout Connecticut and parts of Rhode Island and New York. They work in hospitals, ambulatory sites, a skilled nursing facility, home care and other settings.
“No matter what their role is or where they practice, one thing our nurses share is a commitment to continuously improve nursing practice and patient outcomes,” said Ena Williams, RN, PhD, YNHHS chief nurse executive. “Now they have a system-wide, centralized structure and aligned resources to help.”
After over a year of planning, YNHHS in April launched the Center for Nursing Excellence, dedicated to advancing clinical expertise, fostering professional growth and promoting best practices in nursing, under the leadership of Judith Hahn, RN, PhD, executive director.
The Center works to empower nurses with the knowledge, skills and resources needed to deliver exceptional, equitable, evidence-based care. It provides resources and support in six nursing areas:
- Education and professional development
- Research and evidence-based practice
- Informatics and innovation
- Transition to practice programs
- Magnet program advancement
In the past, each YNHHS delivery network offered its own programs in many of these areas. Over the years some – such as nursing research and the New Graduate Nurse Residency and SPIRE clinical advancement programs – became system-wide.
“In developing the new Center for Nursing Excellence, we combined elements of different delivery networks’ programs with national best practices to create a consistent structure and approach,” Hahn said. “The result is a Center that ensures all Yale New Haven Health nurses have access to the same resources.”
One area benefiting from the system approach is Nursing Magnet recognition. Preparing a Magnet application for the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) takes years and involves numerous people throughout a hospital. If the application is accepted, hospitals must then prepare for a rigorous, multi-day site visit from the ANCC.
Previously Bridgeport, Greenwich and Yale New Haven hospitals each had one or more dedicated Magnet nurses coordinating these efforts. Now part of the Center for Nursing Excellence, these Magnet coordinators are working together to help all YNHHS hospitals obtain Magnet recognition.
The system approach is also enhancing the quality, consistency and efficiency of nursing professional development by reducing duplication of efforts, Williams said.
Kelly Tokarz, RN, a nursing professional development specialist (NPDS) with a background in emergency medicine, is working with other NPDSs throughout the health system to standardize orientation for emergency department nurses across YNHHS.
“With this new structure, there’s a more equitable distribution of resources,” Williams said. “We’re all working together as part of a bigger community to support our nursing team.”
