Executive Chief Nursing Officer Marilyn Dubree, MSN, R.N., delivered a message of continued investment, national recognition and improving nurse satisfaction in her 2016 State of Nursing Address at Light Hall on Tuesday.
She reviewed the progress of nursing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) over the last year and highlighted the path ahead.
Of all the initiatives underway, one of the most significant is the pursuit of a third Magnet designation, a major recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Only about 5 percent of hospitals nationwide have the designation, which VUMC has received twice before.
After more than a year of work, VUMC electronically submitted its Magnet document to the ANCC on April 1 and is preparing for a site visit, which is expected in the fall or early winter.
“The document is an amazing compilation of work,” Dubree said. “There have been many, many teams of people working on the document.”
VUMC is the only organization in Middle Tennessee to have Magnet designation, but that is just one of the ways that make it special to be one of the Medical Center’s nearly 6,000 nurses. Vanderbilt has greater positive name recognition than any other hospital in this area, Dubree said.
To maintain that reputation, VUMC is working to improve job satisfaction. Surveys show those efforts are gaining traction. Nurses reported better job satisfaction scores in 2015 than they did in 2014, as response rates rose from 44 percent in 2014 to 74 percent in 2015.
Dubree encouraged VUMC employees to participate in the current culture survey, which will be available until May 29.
Many other initiatives to improve VUMC Nursing have been underway this past year, Dubree noted, including recruiting nurses to fill vacancies and overhauling clinical systems to save nurses’ time on documentation.
Nurse vacancies are dropping as leaders work more quickly to fill them. It is taking an average of 44 days to fill a position, an improvement from 70 days in recent years. VUMC’s retention rate for registered nurses is now at 83 percent, and its vacancy rate is 5 percent.
“That’s the lowest vacancy factor that we’ve had in four years,” Dubree said. “We have made a lot of progress.”
VUMC is also making an “Epic Leap,” moving clinical systems to the Epic platform by 2017, which will tell a more cohesive patient story.
“This is probably the largest change … that most of us will ever see at Vanderbilt,” Dubree said.
In summary, Dubree said that Vanderbilt Nursing is strong.
“Vanderbilt nurses are indeed remarkable in what they do every day,” Dubree said. “Do not forget that. You are incredibly special to all of what we’re doing. I am honored to stand with you and to be a Vanderbilt nurse, and thank you so much.”
