Three Texas Hospitals Achieve Nurse-Friendly Designation
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AUSTIN, Texas, May 3 - In this time of shortage, when competition is mighty among hospitals to recruit and retain nurses, three Texas facilities now have something all the others don't -- the Nurse-Friendly Hospital designation of the Texas Nurses Association (TNA). Today, TNA named the first three recipients of this unique designation: Hopkins County Memorial Hospital, Sulphur Springs; Wise Regional Health System, Decatur; and Tyler County Hospital, Woodville.
For a hospital to be designated Nurse-Friendly, it must earn the distinction through a vigorous review process where it fully documents that 12 essential elements of the ideal practice environment -- as defined by nurses and research -- are present in the facility's practices, policies and culture. Key to the designation process, the facility's own nurses must also confirm through a confidential, online survey that their facility is committed to nurses, and values their contributions in its overall pursuit of safe, quality patient care.
"The nursing workplace environment has long and often been cited as a major contributor to the shortage of nurses," acknowledges K. Lynn Wieck, PhD, RN, president of Texas Nurses Association. "The practice environment -- the workplace -- has itself driven away nurses who are passionate about caring for patients. Like other professionals, nurses want the kind of workplace environment and facility support that allows them to practice safe, quality care, and they want to be valued for their contributions," she said. "Nurse- friendly hospitals are where that can happen."
The three, newly designated facilities emerged from a collaborative effort of TNA and the East Texas Area Health Education Center (AHEC) to get the 12 nurse-developed, nurse-friendly criteria of TNA adopted by hospitals throughout the state. With the benefit of a five-year-plus, $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to improve nurse retention and quality of care in rural and small (less than 100 beds) hospitals of Texas, TNA and AHEC formed the Texas Nurse-Friendly Program for Rural/Small Hospitals(1) and set out to apply the 12 nurse-friendly criteria of TNA to rural and small hospitals. The grant program allows for no-cost consultation for approximately 30 client hospitals over the five years as they prepare for the strenuous application process.
Wise Regional Health System and Tyler County Hospital are the first, two consultation clients of the grant program to attain Nurse-Friendly Hospital designation. More are anticipated in the future for this three-year designation, awarded only twice a year, in the spring and fall.
"To date," revealed Mary Wainwright, MS, RN, deputy director of the East Texas AHEC and project director of the Texas Nurse-Friendly Program for Rural/Small Hospitals, "24 rural/small hospitals are at varying stages of the implementation process within the grant program." She added, "We anticipate more announcements in the very near future." The deadline for Fall 2005 designation application is June 1.
Hopkins County Memorial Hospital answered a TNA-issued, state-wide invitation to hospitals -- regardless of size -- to seek the three-year designation.
"We felt we had to pursue this Nurse-Friendly hospital designation," explained Carla Shirley, MSN, RN, FNP, chief nursing officer for Hopkins. "Memorial Hospital is a great place to work and to receive quality care. We wanted everyone in our community to know that," she added.
Demonstrated by a long history of repeated shortages, the nursing workplace has historically not cared for its nurses. The result consistently has been shortages. Long hours, often unsafe working conditions, less than competitive wages, and disrespectful colleagues have been frequent contributors to nurses leaving the profession for other careers or for early retirement. As other professional opportunities for women in the workplace have increased over the last several decades, the numbers of those entering the profession has dwindled.
A concentrated focus as of late on legislative solutions, private sector initiatives, and awareness of the now tremendous opportunities of nursing and health care have increased the number of nursing school applicants in Texas. Enrollments have risen but 1000s of qualified applicants have been turned away due to facility capacity and faculty shortages. Until supply for new nursing graduates nears anticipated future demand, retention of the existing workforce is critical for patient care.
"For the nurses themselves to affirm that their facility is the ideal practice environment is indeed a statement," notes Wieck. "It tells the public that theirs is a facility committed to the highest quality of patient care which research proves means better outcomes, shorter lengths of stay, and greater patient satisfaction. It tells nurses that this is a hospital where you want to practice."
Each year in May, during the week surrounding the birthday of Florence Nightingale, pioneer and founder of modern nursing, nurses across the U.S. celebrate National Nurses Week (May 6-12). It is a time they celebrate their honorable profession, and recognize the legacy of Nightingale. It is only fitting then that during this time, the three Nurse-Friendly Hospital designations will be awarded amid celebration and recognition.
* May 3 -- Hopkins County Memorial Hospital, Sulphur Springs, TX * May 10 -- Wise Regional Health System, Decatur, TX * May 12 -- Tyler County Hospital, Woodville, TX
(1) The Texas Nurse-Friendly Program for Rural/Small Hospitals project is funded in part by USDHHS/HRSA/BHP Grant # 1 D66HP01379. The Texas Nurses Association is a professional organization of registered nurses, and the only Texas affiliate of the American Nurses Association. Texas Nurses Association seeks to promote excellence in nursing by helping nurses achieve quality patient care through high standards of practice, legislative involvement, and public policy advocacy.
Source: Texas Nurses Association
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