Given the current state of demand for resources outpacing supply, holding steadfast to traditional thinking and conventional staffing models will no doubt increase the stress on hospitals, executives and already overworked and fragile nursing staff 2. While these are incredibly challenging times for nursing, the silver lining is that there is also opportunity. This shift to outcomes and value will also necessitate that organizations reevaluate traditional, departmentally focused productivity metrics in favor of alternate metrics such as cost per episode. Role and care delivery redesign must maximize the value the nurse brings in driving quality and clinical outcomes.
Nurses play a unique and essential role in care delivery. Organizations must shift their thinking away from the nurse as a tactician and all-around utility player in favor of positioning nurses as the highly skilled and knowledgeable professionals that they are. The role of the nurse in a pay-for-performance environment must be fundamentally rethought. Care Model RedesignĬare model redesign will require a radical shift in thinking and must be rebuilt with an emphasis on nurses practicing at the top of license. While Magnet is non-prescriptive in either staffing requirements or practice models, the focus on structure, process and outcomes affords hospitals and health systems a framework for innovation and staff engagement. The Magnet Model has long been held as the gold standard for nursing practice and provides a framework for enhancing clinical excellence, improving patient outcomes and implementing an effective and satisfying model for nursing practice 1. We will highlight key components of the Magnet Model which lend a context to support the redesign. In this article, we will focus on care model redesign and the role of the nurse in designing a more satisfying and professionally rewarding model of care. This strategic approach to staffing will require a new way of thinking, model redesign and application of nontraditional financial performance metrics. Staffing and care delivery must go beyond the tactical day-to-day task of matching resources to demand and become a strategic focus.
Magnet challenge drivers#
The drivers of the problem are multifactorial and cannot be addressed with a single solution. Although the current nursing shortage has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not unexpected.