 Garrett County
Memorial Hospital:
Smaller Can Be Better
When it comes to increasing nurse managers’ visibility
to their staff, small hospitals definitely have an advantage. That is the firm
opinion of Denise Liston, vice president of Clinical Services at Garrett County
Memorial Hospital, where hospital and subacute care census numbers typically
range from the 30s to the 40s.
“At large hospitals, nurse managers have a heavier
administrative load, which can keep them from working with their nurses in
direct patient care,” she says. “At our hospital, nurse managers make
a point of providing some aspect of direct patient care almost every
day—whether it’s working ED triage, circulating in the OR, or
supporting a mother in labor. They provide models of excellence for their
staff.”
Liston says that while Garrett County’s size dictates
that nurse managers maintain excellent clinical skills, over the past year the
hospital has highlighted their role in demonstrating clinical excellence and
dedication to going the extra mile for patients.
“Nurses know their manager is there to back them
up,” says Liston. She cites as an example the particular skill of the ER
and acute care managers in inserting PICC lines and mid lines. “In
difficult cases, they may come in from home to help.”
Spotlighting nurse managers’ supportive roles
complements other efforts Garrett County is making to enhance nurse recruitment
and retention. For example, the hospital has used funds from a state Nurse
Support Program (NSP) grant to upgrade the orientation program for nurses.
“In the past, we didn’t mesh the schedule of a
newly hired nurse with a single staff nurse who could serve as a consistent
model and contact during orientation,” says Liston. “One day the new
hire might be with nurse A and the next with nurse B. The problem was that the
two nurses often had different approaches, and we ended up confusing the new
hire.”
Now, explains Liston, a new nurse spends at least one week
with the education coordinator, who is responsible for education programs
hospital-wide. The new hire still sees different hospital departments, but
under consistent guidance. “And,” adds Liston, “we get a better
sense of the new nurse’s skills.”
The Nurse Support Program grant also allowed Garrett County
to hire a nurse on a part-time basis to travel to local high schools and middle
schools to speak with students about a nursing career. The hospital created a
one-day Shadow-a-Nurse program that allows interested students to see firsthand
what nurses do. In addition, the hospital has started a nurse extern program
for nursing students who have completed at least one year of nursing school.
And Garrett County has become a clinical rotation site for local residents who
study nursing at Allegany College in Cumberland, which saves 50 miles of
driving time. Liston estimates that the hospital’s capture rate from these
nursing-student programs is roughly 75 percent.
But it is the nurse manager’s supportive role in direct
patient care that Liston believes is most important to nurse retention.
“Our staff see that the manager truly understands what it means to be a
nurse in our hospital,” she says.
Liston adds that even large hospitals can learn from Garrett
County’s example: “Management by walking around—showing that you
are willing to work shoulder-to-shoulder with staff—is the best motivator
any manager can use. It generates tremendous team spirit.”
Over the past year, Garrett County’s positive results
include a drop in turnover rate for its staff of nearly 90 RNs from nearly 17
percent, down to just over 7 percent. Liston cites the most recent Human
Resources staff survey as additional evidence of an improved environment for
nurses: “In the past, our nurses have voiced the greatest number of
complaints. This year, there were no nursing complaints.”
Contact:
Denise Liston
Vice President of
Clinical Services
Garrett County Memorial Hospital
251 North
4th Street
Oakland, MD 21550
Phone: (301) 533-4000
E-mail: dliston@gcmhmail.com
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