Social innovations driven by Pennsylvania nurses were featured in Issue 43 of the Social Innovations Journal. This edition highlighted programs designed to improve health outcomes and the healthcare system in the Commonwealth. Examples include new approaches and collaborative efforts spearheaded by nurses to transform health systems by improving quality, safety, and communication. Innovations in nursing expand beyond technological advancements to new process methods and creative cross-sector partnerships.
The Pennsylvania Action Coalition partnered with the social Innovations Journal, and organized the Social Innovations Journal Symposium at the Free Library of Philadelphia on April 11 to highlight this transformational work.
Read Issue 43 of the Social Innovations Journal
One of the Institute of Medicine's (now the National Academy of Medicine) recommendations that the Pennsylvania Action Coalition addresses is the implementation of nurse residency programs. According to the Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2011):
"Residency provides a continuing opportunity to apply important knowledge for the purpose of remaining a safe and competent provider in a continuous learning environment."
Nurse residency programs assist in preparing nurses to transition from the role of a student nurse to the role of a professional registered nurse into clinical practice. Evidence shows that completing a nurse residency program provides new nurses with the necessary skillset and knowledge to provide safe, high-quality, patient-focused care.
The Vizient/AACN Nurse Residency Program™ (NRP), developed by Vizient® and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, supports new graduate nurses through data-driven solutions as they enter clinical practice. The evidence-based curriculum delivers on three key areas: leadership, patient outcomes, and professional development. The NRP helps organizations obtain and maintain Magnet designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The Pennsylvania Action Coalition aims to increase the number of health care institutions with the NRP through its strategic partnership with Vizient, Inc.
The PA-NRC was established in 2016 as a partnership of the Pennsylvania Action Coalition and Vizient, Inc. to implement residency programs in Pennsylvania and to provide an additional layer of support. All hospitals and health systems in Pennsylvania that have purchased the Vizient/AACN PA-Nurse Residency Program (NRP) are members of the PA-NRC.
If you want to learn more about the PA Nurse Residency Collaborative or the Nurse Residency Program, please contact Amy Ricords at
If you are a new PA Nurse Residency Collaborative member or have trouble accessing the PA-NRC Member page, please fill out this form.
About the PA-NRC - Download PDF Here
| 2019 | 2020 | |
| RNs hired at participating PA-NRC hospitals |
4,169 (61% of all RNs hired in PA work at a participating PA-NRC hospital) |
3,710 (48% of all RNs hired in PA work at a participating PA-NRC hospital) |
| Turnover rate for RNs at participating PA-NRC hospitals | 10% | 8% |
| Cost avoidance with the national average turnover rate of 14% and national turnover costs of $88,000 per nurse to PA-NRC turnover rate | $14.7 million | $19.6 million |
| Participating Hospitals | |
|
PA-NRC: 66 of 154 acute care hospitals in PA (43%) 8 rehabilitation hospitals |
National Vizient NRP: 654 of 6,090 total hospitals in the U.S. in 2021 (11%) have purchased the NRP |
The Pennsylvania Action Coalition works actively on initiatives designed to improve consumer experience through better access to high-quality care and fostering interprofessional collaboration to improve quality and safety of care.
Removing the scope-of-practice barriers allows nurses to contribute to a patient-centered, seamless, transformed healthcare system. The Campaign for Action is leading efforts to modernize outdated policies (public and private), change state and federal laws and regulations, and remove cultural and organizational barriers.
Private and public funders, health care organizations, nursing education programs, and nursing associations should expand opportunities for nurses to lead and manage collaborative efforts with physicians and other members of the health care team to conduct research and to redesign and improve practice environments and health systems. These entities should also provide opportunities for nurses to diffuse successful practices. Nurses are at the forefront of redesigning care. Nurses can transform practice to be safer and more responsive to the needs of patients and their families.
The Pennsylvania Action Coalition (PA-AC) encourages the growth of nurse leaders by providing networking opportunities and education opportunities. The PA-AC also serves as the state liaison to the Nurses on Boards Coalition.
Strong leadership is a critical component of a transformed healthcare system. The nursing profession must produce leaders, who can serve as partners with other health professionals and be accountable for their own contributions to delivering high-quality care.
Nurses need to serve in leadership positions, including on governing boards. Appointing nurses to serve on their boards can help guide management and make improvements. Nurse leaders can provide a valuable perspective that balances the business of healthcare with clinical and patient outcomes. More nurses need to manage health systems and lead health care transformation. They need to position themselves as valued partners in health care improvement.
Nurses on health-related boards can translate their knowledge of bedside care, humanitarian approaches to care and quality & risk management to practice. Collaboration ensures that healthcare is safely delivered to patients and their families, and improves healthcare quality.
Click here to learn more about Pennsylvania Action Coalition's Leadership structure.
Click here to learn about all our initiatives
A key goal of the Pennsylvania Action Coalition is to advance the educational preparation of the nursing workforce. Nursing education should encourage continued lifelong learning and include opportunities for seamless transitions to higher-degree programs. Increased educational opportunities allow nurses to further develop their skills in providing high-quality care, effectively communicate goals, and contribute to research and programming to advance healthcare safety.
Diversity is a key priority at both the state and national levels and is intended to help narrow the health care disparity gap, support the importance of a diverse workforce, and help prepare nurses to care for an increasingly diverse population. By increasing diversity throughout the health care and nursing workforce, we endeavor to ensure that all Americans have access to high-quality, patient-centered care in a health care system where nurses contribute as essential partners in achieving success.
The Nurse Diversity Council (NDC) of the Pennsylvania Action Coalition is a volunteer council dedicated to promoting diversity and cultural humility in nursing to increase access to high-quality, patient-centered care in a health care system where nurses contribute as essential partners in achieving success. The NDC aims to enhance nurses’ knowledge, attitudes, and skills regarding diversity, foster culturally humble care and promote inclusion in the nursing workforce.
Click here to learn about all our initiatives
The Campaign for Action is a national campaign to transform health and healthcare through nursing. The Campaign for Action envisions a healthcare system where nurses contribute to the full extent of their capabilities. The goals for the Campaign for Action are based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine’s (now the National Academy of Medicine) Future of Nursing report.
The campaign is backed by the AARP Foundation, AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Each state has an action coalition to mobilize nurses, health providers, consumers, educators, and businesses to strengthen nursing on multiple fronts.
The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health report was published by the Institute of Medicine in October 2010. The report was the culmination of two years of research on how to transform the nursing profession. It identifies the nursing professional as a central component to improving the healthcare system, and provides evidence-based recommendations on training, education, professional leadership, and workforce policy. These recommendations aim to create a patient-centered healthcare system that relies on research and the transformative power of nursing to improve health across the country.
The National Academy of Medicine on May 11 released its much-anticipated report, The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. Like its predecessor from 2010, this report will influence the direction of nursing and health care for years to come.
The report hones in on the problem of health disparities, rooted in centuries of injustice that will take substantive societal change to solve. Achieving health equity will require serious reflection on our identities and responsibilities as nurses, nurse champions and contributing members of society. Then we will need the willpower to turn that reflection into action.
Read the full report here: The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity
