Innovation Poster Session
HRT1215 – Innovation Awards
Sydney
11th and 12th Oct 2012
High Dependency Care:
Specialty Year of Practice
Presenter: Luke Sloane
Westmead Hospital
The Health Roundtable
1-1a_HRT1215-Session_SLOANE_WESTMEAD_NSW
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KEY PROBLEM
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Difficulty, read: impossible, recruitment to positions in several
of our High Dependency Care Units (HDUs)
No educational preceptor programs existed for novice
nurses rotating into or recruited to our HDUs
The difficulty in recruitment was a result of a low unit profile,
read: bad reputation
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AIM OF THIS INNOVATION
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Minimum filling of 50% of all vacancies carried by HDUs
Implement a fully integrated High Dependency Care
education and best practice program
Increase number of high skill level, high dependency care staff
Improved and sustained patient focused care in HDUs
Knowledge sharing between HDUs of different specialties,
creating dynamic HDU nurses.
Implement and sustain the High dependency Care: Specialty
Year of Practice (SYOP) with a 3 year plan
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BASELINE DATA
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For example our medical HDU (Ward B) was carrying 11.8
FTE in non specialised agency staff on top of 2.32 FTE of
overtime within units., still leaving 0.31 vacancy per roster
This cost Ward B $1,156,731.11 per annum in contingency
labour alone
Hospital wide in the 5 HDUs alone there was a 25.94 FTE
vacancy carried for more than 12 months
Team morale was low, burn out risk was high
New staff rotating into unit post Transition to Practice
Program, were no longer intensively supported to ‘up skill’
No incentives were available to attract and sustain
competent and highly skilled Nursing Staff
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KEY CHANGES IMPLEMENTED
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A full brief and project plan was submitted to the Chief
Executive via the Director of Nursing and Midwifery to
recruit to min 30 positions directly associated with the SYOP
program
Brand marketing. Innovative advertising through leading
publications, with fresh new advertising approach
Education program in line with new recruits to the HDUs to
support them during the first 12 months, in a self-directed,
Nurse Educator supported multi-specialty support
Cross HDU Nurse Education exchange
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OUTCOMES SO FAR
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15 external recruits to HDUs RN2-RN7
10 internal recruits from acute wards to HDUs RN2-RN7
80% plus feed back on all face to face education sessions with
90% attendance rate.
100% self directed learning completion
Increased team morale on all units including ‘Ward B’
Direct cost savings of $426, 821.47 per annum in contingency
labour due to long carried vacancies being filled.
100% 12 month retention rate.
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LESSONS LEARNT
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Unit and facility profile contribute significantly to recruitment
strategy success.
Specialty education programs provide increased skill at the
bedside, improved team morale and deliver unit appropriate
levels of care.
Nursing care delivery improved with knowledge
Advertising is expensive, but rewarding
Novice nurses that are well supported form bedding for
sustainable highly skilled workforce
All of the above influenced financial position indirectly
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