Implementing AWHONN's Perinatal Staffing Guidelines: Curing the "Staffing" Blues and Transforming a Unit
Title: Implementing AWHONN's Perinatal Staffing Guidelines: Curing the "Staffing" Blues and Transforming a Unit
- The participant will be able to differentiate between common staffing patterns and the AWHONN perinatal staffing recommendations.
- The participant will be able to distinguish different staffing ratios based on skill mix and patient acuity.
- The participant will list 3 benefits of incorporating AWHONN's perinatal staffing guidelines.
Improve patient outcomes, quality of care and nurse satisfaction by following the updated AWHONN staffing guidelines.
Proposed change:
Transition to an all RN staff while meeting staffing ratios in a defined timeframe.
Implementation, outcomes and evaluation:
To meet the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses professional perinatal staffing guidelines released in 2010, leadership advocated for an all RN staff on the Mother Infant Unit. This skill mix change involved finding new roles for 11 LPN’s employed both in the nursery and caring for mother-baby couplets. Leadership collaborated with the human resources department to identify various departments within Bon Secours seeking LPN’s. Informational sessions were held so they could stay within the organization. Leadership advocated for increased hours-per-patient day on the Mother Infant unit so practice would be according to the recently updated AWHONN staffing guidelines.
Transformation on the Mother Infant unit over the last year has taken place following the implementation of the AWHONN guidelines. This is evidenced by increased Gallup RN satisfaction scores of 4.55 in 2011 to 4.88 in 2012. Certifications have increased from 3 certified nurses to 22 certified nurses and quality of care has risen. Patient satisfaction scores have also steadily increased.
Implications for nursing practice:
Prior to this change the RN would be responsible for the outcome of care for 6 to 8 couplets if she were caring for her own assignment of patients & directing care for the LPN’s assignment. Modification of our staffing guidelines decreased workload & individual responsibility allowing for unified teamwork. Now the RN has more time at the bedside while spending less time making daily & shift to shift staffing decisions. This is due to not having the skill mix problems that would arise in the past.
Keywords:
Transformation
AWHONN Perinatal Staffing Guidelines
RN Satisfaction
Employee Engagement
Certification