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 Retired RNs at Sinai
Nursing leaders at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore are
addressing the nursing shortage by respecting the needs of nurses in an aging
workforce. Through their Retired Nurse Initiative, Sinai Hospital offers older
nurses creative job options, allowing them to remain in the workforce while
enjoying their retirement years.
Diane Johnson, RN, MBA, vice president of Patient Care
Services and chief nursing officer, explains that about a year and a half ago,
the hospital's nurses started brainstorming about ways to tackle the nursing
shortage. Data from the state of Maryland indicated there was a large pool of
nurses with active licenses who were no longer practicing nursing. Realizing
that many of these nurses were retired, Johnson says, "We had to look for ways
to entice nurses back into the field. Asking retired nurses to come back and
work as direct caregivers, working eight-hour shifts, five days a week, wasn't
realistic."
As a result of their brainstorming, Johnson and other
committee members developed alternative job options for nurses wishing to
return to the workplace. She says their program not only benefits the hospital
but retired nurses as well. "An RN must work a minimum of one thousand hours in
a five-year period to maintain an active license. By working four hours a week
through this new program, nurses are able to meet that requirement."
Judith Dorsey, RN, manager, employment and nurse recruiter,
says the new program serves as an effective recruiting tool, adding that she
has a larger pool of nurses from which to recruit if other positions open up
within the hospital.
Eudice Lowenthal, RN, BA, a hospital operations coordinator
at Sinai and the president of Sinai Hospital Nurses Alumni, worked to inform
retired alumni members about the new program. Lowenthal, who graduated from
nursing school in 1949, says that alumni members have strong ties and loyalty
to their hospital and are participating in the new program.
Valerie Allen, RN, MSN, the director of cardiac patient care
services, says that the hospital hired seven RNs to serve as the program's
first discharge service coordinators. The discharge transition coordinators
serve as patient advocates. They phone patients and review their discharge
instructions with them, asking if they have questions or issues that require
their professional help. Allen said, "If the patient has a question they can't
answer, the coordinator will make a conference call and directly transfer the
patient to the doctor's office." In addition, Allen says the hospital is
presently working on developing a health care associate role for nurses with
inactive licenses.
Source:
Nursing Spectrum
By Terri
Polick, RN
March 08, 2004
Copyright 2004.
Nursing Spectrum Nurse
Wire (www.nursingspectrum.com).
All rights reserved. Used with
permission. (Back to
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