For several years now, across the Johns Hopkins Health System, we have been working diligently
to become the model of an integrated health care delivery system. We’ve taken strides to align, streamline, and harmonize our resources, processes and procedures—aiming to work like one united organization rather than a number of isolated hospitals and member organizations.
When it comes to nursing, these efforts have been enlightening and allowed us to learn from our colleagues across the health system, share best practices, harmonize policies, and extend research and education across venues.
One major step in our nursing alignment and harmonization was the development of our Johns Hopkins Health System Nursing Councils. These five councils—Informatics, Inquiry, Practice, Professional Development, and Quality—were formed to drive system-level initiatives, align and streamline the work being done at each of our member hospitals, and amplify the voice of nursing across the health system. Each council has one to two representatives, including front-line staff members, from aligned councils at each member hospital, allowing for a two-way flow of information and ideas between the hospital-level and system-level councils. Pivotal to the development of these councils and the nursing governance model was LeighAnn Sidone, who served as the associate chief nurse executive for nursing professional practice for the health system. The work of these councils has been instrumental in launching a number of new initiatives to improve nursing workflows, increase support to clinical nurses, develop our nursing leaders, and so much more.
Our goal, above all, is to ensure that all of our nurses have opportunities to make their voices heard.
Improving and streamlining nursing documentation has been one area of focus across the health system. Over the past year, nurses at each of our hospitals were surveyed about their documentation pain points and what could make nursing documentation easier. Based on this feedback, a number of innovations have been implemented or are being developed, including a new electronic handoff tool to help with continuity of care; pre-op checklists that have been made easier to complete to help reduce delays in starting operating room procedures; the addition of “macros” (an automatic option nurses can select when they are filling out a form, which is based on how the form is filled out 80 percent of the time); and improvements to the patient care plan. By one estimate, these changes helped to save nurses 170,620 clicks in just four months.
Another initiative launched across the health system this year was the JHHS Nurse Mentoring Program. The program is designed to help nurses in all roles and at all levels succeed in reaching their individual career goals, and is supported by a robust online platform that provides tools to connect mentors and mentees, set and track goals, and reflect on progress and achievements. Our first cohort of mentors and mentees was matched in October, and we look forward to seeing how our nurses grow, develop, and continue to support one another.
No matter what the location or care setting, having engaged and supportive nursing leaders is critical to our nurses’ success and in ensuring the highest level of care for our patients. Earlier this year, we kicked off our Nurse Managers Vitals program, which brings together nurse managers from all of our hospitals for a yearlong journey of growth and development. The aim of the program is to support nurse managers’ wellbeing, curiosity, and professional development within a rich network of peers. In addition to learning best practices around daily operations, strategic planning and leadership development, woven throughout the program is a focus on reflective leadership—the practice of using self-awareness, introspection, and continuous learning to help leaders make better decisions and better support their teams.
These are just a few examples of the extraordinary work being done across the Johns Hopkins Health System to strengthen and align our nurses and nursing practice. We know that many of the best improvement ideas come directly from our front-line nurses—those caring for patients and their loved ones day in and day out. Our goal, above all, is to ensure that all of our nurses have opportunities to make their voices heard and contribute to the rich dialogues that are driving advances and improvements across our health care system.◼
Deborah Baker, DNP, AG-ACNP, NEA-BC, FAAN, is senior vice president for nursing for the Johns Hopkins Health System as well as Johns Hopkins Hospital vice president of nursing and patient care services.