TONL Monthly

by: Susan Greenwood
Health care professionals, regardless of the practice setting, are uniquely prone to stress and burnout. Reith (2018) states that burnout has reached “rampant levels” with over one-half of physicians and one-third of nurses experiencing symptoms.

The TONE Annual Conference provides an excellent forum to share your knowledge, accomplishments and innovations with nursing colleagues across the state. TONE is currently seeking poster presentations that support this year’s theme: "Crisis in Healthcare: Preparing Nurse Leaders to Respond." Abstracts must be submitted by January 3, 2020.

The purpose of this doctor of nursing practice scholarly project is to assess attitudes toward leadership and decision-making styles of Central Texas healthcare executives. This project will utilize an anonymous, Likert-scaled, web-hosted survey comprised of 97 questions: 17 demographics, 20 fit-of-position questions, 30 leadership style and 20 decision-making. The survey will be distributed via anonymous link to the membership distribution lists of the Central Texas chapters of American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL) and American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). Data will be analyzed and manuscript developed for submission to ACHE’s professional journal. The study will be open for responses through January 31, 2020.  

Doctorate of nursing practice (DNP) leadership students can help professional organizations achieve dramatic results in a short period of time. This article describes how an executive nurse leader can mentor DNP students and simultaneous improve organizational performance in any setting. During a one-semester, 100-hour clinical fellowship, a DNP student from the Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth worked with the president and regional director of the Texas Organization of Nurse Executives (TONE) to revitalize a local chapter of the organization.

Join fellow nurse leaders for one of two TONE conferences offered in 2020. Each conference includes a line-up of dynamic speakers addressing topics important in our industry today, networking opportunities and industry insight. More information will be shared on the TONE website after the new year, so check www.texasnurse.org soon for updates!

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) held a public session March 20 in Washington, D.C., to launch a new study on the future of nursing. The goal of the Committee on the Future of Nursing 2020-2030, tasked by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), is to extend the original vision and chart a path for the nursing profession to help our nation create a culture of health, reduce health disparities and improve the health and well-being of the U.S. population in the 21st century.

By Jennifer Thew, RN, HealthLeadersMedia
 
Does your healthcare organization's leadership team represent the diversity of your organization and surrounding community? Not likely. According to the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity's 2015 benchmarking study, Diversity and Disparities: A Benchmarking Study of U.S. Hospitals in 2015, "minorities comprise only 14% of hospital board members, 11% of executive leadership positions, and 19% of first- and mid-level managers."

By Jennifer Thew, RN, HealthLeadersMedia
 
Reshaping healthcare delivery means reshaping nursing leadership. Enter the chief nursing optimization officer role. Betty Jo Rocchio, MS, BSN, CRNA, CENP, chief nursing optimization officer at Mercy in St. Louis has long been ahead of the curve when it comes to the nursing profession.

Submitted by Jessica Smith, PhD, RN
 
Although rural hospitals serve about one fifth of the United States, few studies have investigated relationships among nursing resources and rural hospital adverse events. The purpose of this survey was to determine relationships among nursing skill mix (proportion of registered nurses [RNs] to all nursing staff), the work environment and adverse events (medication errors, patient falls with injury, pressure ulcers and urinary tract infections) in rural hospitals.

 

U.S. News & World Report released its annual rankings for the best online education programs Jan. 15. For the 2019 Best Online Graduate Nursing Programs rankings, the publication evaluated nursing schools on five weighted categories, including faculty credentials and training, engagement, and service and technologies.

By Nelson Tuazon, DNP, DBA, RN, NEA-BC, CENP, CPHQ, FACHE
Vice President and Associate Chief Nursing Officer, University Health System
President, South Central Texas Organization of Nurse Executives
 
Hospitals continue to search for ways to improve efficiency while promoting patient safety and enhance the experience of patients and their families. Healthcare leaders and administrators feel compelled to adopt strategies to reduce cost by decreasing length of stay and by promoting patient throughput (El-Eid, Kaddoum, Tamim, & Hitti, 2015). The pressure to improve throughput for patients waiting in the emergency department, the operating rooms and procedural areas, along with referrals from other facilities, has provided the impetus for hospitals to make beds available for the next patient (Baim, 2012; Mayer, & Jensen, 2012). Across the U.S., hospitals continue to face the challenges of severe capacity constraints that contribute to bottlenecks in patient flow (Kane et al., 2016).

A new Press Ganey report sheds light on a study that was designed to identify trends of why nurses leave or stay in their positions.

This case study describes how an RTLS has allowed Texas Health Presbyterian Dallas Hospital to locate and maintain medical equipment easily while keeping rental and repair costs.

As the field of nursing leadership evolves, so does AONE. As the professional organization for all nurse leaders, we represent a diverse community, working across the care continuum. To more fully represent those we serve and to continue our mission of shaping healthcare through innovative and expert nursing leadership, I’m thrilled to share the new name of our organization: The American Organization for Nursing Leadership.