This culture of innovation and clinical excellence is rooted in PMPH’s commitment to empower its nurses — over 1,200 strong — to have a voice and make decisions about their work. They are ranked among the best in the nation, having achieved the coveted Magnet® Distinction two consecutive times with the third designation due this year. Magnet® recognizes exemplary nursing practice, and this hard-won honor makes PMPH one of only 10 percent of hospitals nationwide to achieve this distinction.
To maintain this superior practice standard, Penn Medicine Princeton Health seeks to launch a comprehensive Institute for Nursing Excellence.
The Institute for Nursing Excellence (INE) will be built on three pillars, bringing existing but decentralized efforts in Professional Development, Clinical Practice, and Research & Innovation under one umbrella.
As a fully integrated center, the INE will provide the infrastructure and support our nurses need to advance their education, take a novel idea, product, or care pathway from concept to reality, and advance research - all aimed at transforming health care to improve patient outcomes. The INE will also serve as a base for developing management and leadership succession programs as well as nurse recruitment and retention strategies. This is critically important as one million nurses nationwide are expected to retire by 2030.
Center for Professional Development
Advanced education is a cornerstone of nursing excellence. About 80 percent of our nurse workforce holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN); our goal is to reach 85 percent by 2025. We also require that nurses become nationally certified in their clinical specialty, another important performance measure. The INE will offer on-site education and tuition support to reach these goals.
Professional educational conferences allow nurses to gain exposure to national leaders in their specialty. In these forums, nurses can bring back new care practices, innovations, and programs to implement at PMPH. In addition, they can share their research and clinical practices on a national stage.
Leadership development, career advancement and mentoring programs will be available as well. These enable rising nurse leaders and clinical nurses to explore growth opportunities while being mentored by experienced nurses. Those selected for the program spend one day a week with a designated mentor and attend selected classes over the course of a year.
Center for Research & Innovation
The Center for Research & Innovation will encourage nurses to go beyond existing performance standards and support PMPH’s mission to advance the art and science of healing.
Nursing innovation is defined as “A novel set of behaviors, routines and ways of working that are directed at improving health outcomes, administrative efficiency, cost effectiveness or user’s experience that are implemented by planned and coordinated actions” (American Nurses Credentialing Center).
PMPH’s nurses are uniquely positioned to advance health care from the front lines. By working at the bedside, they see firsthand what works, what doesn’t, and how care can be improved. But often the biggest hurdle is taking a concept from idea to invention and having the time and resources to do so. The INE’s Center for Research and Innovation will provide a formal mechanism to help nurses identify, incubate, and bring new medical products or care models to the bedside.
Our nurses will also have access to the experts at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s Innovation Center to exchange ideas and design evidence-based solutions to existing or emerging health concerns. Funds will be used to bring these resources to PMPH and help nurses explore their own concepts and theories.
At the same time, research is critical to the nursing profession, especially when there is a lack of clinical evidence to address certain care challenges. At PMPH, research can take the form of observational studies or clinical investigations and is required as part of our Magnet® recognition in 2021. However, engaging in research can be difficult and time-consuming for full time clinical nurses.
The Center for Innovation & Research will help nurses at all levels initiate new studies, explore innovative ideas and advance nursing science while being guided by experienced PhD prepared nurses. The Center for Innovation and Research will also provide statistical and data support, scholarly research, grant writing, article preparation for publication and presentations at nursing conferences locally, nationally and internationally.
Center for Clinical Practice
This center will develop evidence-based clinical practices that transform patient care, build upon the innovations developed to treat COVID-19 patients, and train the next generation of nurses at PMPH.
Evidence-based clinical practice is the foundation of quality patient care. PMPH supports practice models that give nurses decision-making responsibility, which promotes accountability and results in better patient outcomes. This model also puts patients and families at the center of care, which drives all aspects of our organization. Evidence-based practice involves identifying a clinical problem, analyzing the best evidence to address the problem, applying the evidence to clinical practice, and assessing the result. The Center for Clinical Practice will explore new practice models that advance care delivery.
The center will also give nurses access to PMPH’s advanced Simulation Center. Medical simulation promotes better patient care by having clinicians practice real-life procedures on simulation manikins. Manikins have lifelike features and responsive physiology (heartbeat, breathing) and simulate a range of medical conditions (cardiac arrest, seizure, etc.). Nurses along with the multi professional team practice evidence-based procedures on the manikins, which are linked to computers for virtual feedback. Nurses and others gain advanced skills without patient risk.
Mentoring new nursing school graduates entering the workforce is also essential to advanced clinical practice. Our certified Nurse Residency Program is a yearlong program in which nurses gain hands on experience for initial 12 weeks. They then interview to work in the unit of their choice and once a month for the next eight months participate in day-long intensive instruction, sharing experiences and learning the qualities of nursing excellence. This program has a higher retention rate of new nurses than traditional orientation models.
In addition, PMPH’s Student Nursing Assistant Fellowship program was created in 2020 to address the impact COVID had on nursing education. During the height of the pandemic, nursing students were limited, if not totally restricted, from working with patients in the hospital setting and as a result lacked basic skills. At the same time, PMPH’s nursing department desperately needed nursing assistants to support our existing nursing staff to handle the overflow of patients. A Student Nursing Assistant Fellowship program was quickly developed and 12 students were recruited in three days. The program continues today and is a win win for students who gain essential hands-on experience, and for PMPH which maintains a pipeline of nursing talent.
FUNDING NEEDS
Throughout our history, the community’s generosity has played an instrumental role in nursing’s growth and success at PMPH. With further investment, we can expand their impact and continue to better the lives of the patients and families we serve.