Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Lindsey Horne, Manager of Nurse Residencies at Novant Health

Transcript

Lindsey Horne, Manager of Nurse Residencies at Novant Health · Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast

• 0:00
  This is Laura Diet with Becker healthcare care
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  podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
• 0:04
  Lindsey Horn, manager of nurse residences at Nova
• 0:07
  Health. Lindsay is a pleasure to have you
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  on the podcast today.
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  Thanks for having me. No. I'm really looking
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  forward to our discussion and digging a bit
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  deeper into what you're doing at Nova in
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  terms of building out in our pipeline and,
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  really training nurses of the future. I know
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  such an important aspect of health care today,
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  And really a lot of organizations trying to
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  make sure they have a strong pipeline going
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  forward. So I'm I'm excited to dive in.
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  But before we do, I was wondering could
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  you tell us a little bit more about
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  yourself and your background? Or Sure. Be happy
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  to. So I am Lindsay Horn and and
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  the manager of the residency
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  program here at Nova Health and Never health
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  is a large Multi
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  organization, spans both North and South Carolina,
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  and we employ Christ 40000
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  team members. And so I'm really proud to
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  say that I've spent my entire career at
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  Nova Health and various nursing roles
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  from, you know, labor delivery, bedside nurse to
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  nurse educator and and, you know, most currently,
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  my current role, but the manager of the
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  nurse residency program, which I think has been
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  my favorite thus far. And so throughout my
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  nursing journey, I have spent many many hours,
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  preset and onboarding, new nurses, see the profession
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  and and really no matter what role I
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  was in. It just has have has been
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  my passion. And so
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  it it all boils down to my clinical
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  experiences that I had a student at Nova
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  Health. It really was the driving factor on
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  where I wanted to work as a nurse.
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  And so
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  it it has been really great for me
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  thus far. But I will say that transition
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  into nursing practice, my very first year in
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  the profession was probably the the hardest of
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  my my life. And and... But, thankfully, I
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  had such a great experience at Nova Hill.
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  That it really helped me settle into the
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  clinical setting and really just,
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  you know,
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  reiterated that, you know, having that... Supportive and
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  welcoming environment is really key for new clinicians
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  as they're their they're learning kind of the
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  complexities of health care. And so I I
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  will say in 20 16, I was presented
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  the opportunity to build and
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  begin, from the ground up, a a nurse
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  residency program for Nova Health, and it has
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  been some of my best work, I think
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  today and and work that I'm so proud
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  of as we we now recruit nurse residents
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  or brand new nurses from all over the
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  country. We have an accreditation with distinction that
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  we have maintained, and and we're really proud
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  of that
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  and we we have a team that just
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  find so much joy in making this a
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  great experience for people that are joining our
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  organization. And so... Next month, I will actually
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  graduate our twentieth cohort
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  of brand new nurses at Nova Health, and
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  so that's that equals out to about 4300
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  nurses that I've had the opportunity to work
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  with since 20 16. So it has been...
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  An absolute fun journey, and I've learned a
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  lot around you know, along the way, and
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  and I'm excited to hear a little bit
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  about, kinda half how our program works.
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  Well, that's amazing here in really impressive 4300
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  nurses,
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  don't you know, coming through your program and
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  being able to,
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  touch their career journeys and set them off
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  for success. I can imagine that's a huge
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  undertaking, but also something,
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  should be really excited and proud of.
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  Yes. It is. It's it's... It has been
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  really on work.
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  Excellent. Well, I'm wondering first and foremost, what
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  makes the nurse residency
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  program at Health unique. What really do you
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  do that sets you apart?
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  Well, I think we have you know, several
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  pieces that that are unique about our residency
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  program. I think first foremost we're a homegrown
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  program.
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  You know, most large multi site
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  organizations really do, you know, have to rely
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  a lot of vendors and things like that
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  to operationalize these just very large,
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  I programs, but we have... We've really built
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  ours from the ground up with a special
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  emphasis on what we we know and we
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  want for our organization, which is extremely competent
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  and competent new nurses. And so
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  some of the unique pieces
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  that that I think we offer is we
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  are a 12 month program. You were gonna
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  see a lot across the country about our
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  6 months some that are 3 months. But
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  we really feel strongly, and that 12 months
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  is is is what new nurses need, to
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  feel confident
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  at the bedside. And so it is a
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  massive investment for our organization. It can it
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  can can be expensive
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  but it really has been a
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  a win win for not only the nurses
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  joining our team, but the unit,
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  that are looking to fill vacancies on their
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  floor. So some other pieces that I think
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  make us unique and have really contributed to
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  our success are that we are a centralized
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  residency program.
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  And with a centralized
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  that model. So we do not hire new
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  nurses directly to any of our acute care
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  units. They come into the residency program,
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  and we oversee their experience for that very
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  first year. And so this allows the residency
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  leaders to work very closely with not only
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  the residents but also the unit to make
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  sure that this onboarding experience is smooth. We
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  make sure that they are on the right
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  units and that they are set up for
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  success, with their predecessor,
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  their
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  education,
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  etcetera. And so having a team that is
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  dedicated,
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  and do that first year, for new nurses
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  has been key in not only the... How
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  the residents are feeling about it, but also
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  in our overall retention. We're able to quickly
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  move residents out of areas that maybe aren't
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  the right fit and and try other areas
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  within the organization that might be
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  just, you know, better suited for that particular
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  resident and their skill level. And so that,
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  we we have really
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  you know, been proud of as part of
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  our program.
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  I think the the next 1 that comes
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  to mind is that we allow residents to
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  rotate through different units,
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  within,
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  our system. So that... We don't have them
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  when they are hired on,
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  committed to 1 specific unit at 1 specific
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  facility.
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  If they are a critical care resident, they
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  might get to try a medical. I you
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  and a neuro Icu and a cardiac Icu.
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  So we really give them a lot to
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  the additional experiences that first year,
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  to help them see really what kind of
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  nurse they're meant to be. It also helps
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  our unit leaders see which new grads or
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  the right fit for their unit and their
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  team. So from a culture standpoint,
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  this has has been
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  a huge,
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  success of our program because we are able
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  to get residents in in the right homes
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  where they will hopefully be Novo nurses for
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  many years to come. So those are probably,
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  I think the big ones that we get
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  a lot of comments about from applicants and
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  from unit leaders is
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  the ability to rotate and having that centralized
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  leadership model
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  have been
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  have been big keys to our success.
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  Oh, that's great to hear. You know? And
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  I really appreciate you talking about that
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  12 month program you have at Nova, and
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  it seems really like a fascinating opportunity to
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  have the ability rotating through different departments and
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  and finding the right units
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  for for each different
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  training nurse resident, a or from your perspective,
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  when you look at building something like this
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  and, bringing in
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  talented people to be part of the residency
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  program,
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  are they typically pretty ex... Excited about it
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  or or, you know, nervous about this being
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  different from what most programs are like, How
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  do you really sell that to the nurses
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  coming in? And then, like you said, it's
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  a big investment from the health system side.
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  So really showing, you know, the rest of
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  your, the leadership team, what difference it makes
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  to be able to of this type of
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  program even though it is a bigger investment.
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  Yeah. So you know, thankfully, the the program...
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  The way that we market it, it it's
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  it's pretty easy to market. You know, what
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  we know new graduates, what they're looking for,
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  it's lots of support. While they are very
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  excited about their brand new nursing role.
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  They also are very nervous.
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  Social media, you know,
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  in today's time, doesn't always paint nursing
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  units as the most supportive places to
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  to begin. And so we we have our
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  work cut out for us there. And I
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  think that's 1 of the areas that we
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  do well on the front end or pre
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  hire if we have many touch points with
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  them there to reassure that they are in
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  good hands. Here's all the things that we
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  have planned for you.
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  We we do a lot of of just
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  touch points
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  before they even began to kinda hopefully settle
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  some of those nerves that they might have
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  about starting their new role and they get
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  to meet the... Residency leaders very early on
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  in the process. So they're very used to
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  us
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  before they even begin on the nursing unit.
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  And so our managers, I think,
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  you know, they they see their excitement when
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  they come to the floor.
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  They also know the caliber of candidates that
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  a residency program,
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  recruits. And so I think that excites them
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  to see people that are excited about nursing.
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  And that are,
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  you know, being followed very closely by the
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  nurse residency team. So there's a partnership that
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  we've formed
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  with the unit leaders that we're gonna work
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  together to make this a good experience and
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  to make sure that you're getting nurses
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  that are good fit for your units.
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  And we're also gonna be helping the residents,
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  making sure that they're landing in areas that
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  they're really happy about and feel good about.
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  And so with all of the options of
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  our program and the flexibility to rotate units,
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  we are seeing our new hires or come
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  in not quite as anxious,
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  as as we did before the program because
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  they know that they're sent they're gonna have
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  a full 12 months to figure it out
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  and figure out what they like and really
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  where they're meant to be and what type
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  of nursing is really right for them.
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  That's great to hear. Now, how do you
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  measure success for the program?
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  Yeah. So that's something we're constantly looking at,
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  you know, with... I know I'm in it
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  prior, but residency programs are a massive investment
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  for healthcare organizations and quite expensive. And so
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  We have lots of metrics that we we
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  keep close eye on
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  to make sure that we are seeing the
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  success that that we're looking for. And so
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  come some of the... The key metrics that
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  that we we wanna see is is participant
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  feedback. So we... Every graduating cohort, we... We
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  receive feedback from candidates that or residents that
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  have been in the program.
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  We want to know what was their overall
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  satisfaction of the program. We have scores there
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  we look closely at. What we also look
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  at, is this a program they would recommend
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  to others.
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  With cohorts as large as ours, it's the
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  best recruitment tool to... Have residency graduates that
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  wanna go out and tell their friend, hey,
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  this is where you wanna be as a
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  new nurse. And so we have found that
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  if we watch those numbers very closely. We
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  have a really good idea on on what,
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  you know, what they're saying about their experience.
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  And so that's that's 1 thing that we
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  keep a close By. We also are looking
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  at our nurse leader
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  feedback. From senior leaders, to nursing directors, By
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  as well as our unit leaders? We wanna
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  know what is their overall satisfaction
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  with the program? Are they filling vacancies through
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  this pipeline, are they getting the caliber of
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  candidates
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  that they're looking for. And overall, do they
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  feel like it's a good investment for Nova
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  help. So I do think these are the
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  key the key ones that we want to
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  keep our eyes on to make sure that
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  they are
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  extremely positive,
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  because we know that if we have
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  you know, residents that or feeling good about
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  their overall experience and willing to recommend it
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  to others, and we have unit leaders that
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  feel like this is a good investment and
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  our and are filling vacancies with this pipeline
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  that we are moving in the right direction.
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  So
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  you know, in addition to those things,
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  we do like to look at retention data.
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  That's a big big metric as well, and
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  then, our overall recruitment number. So I would
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  say,
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  those those are the big ones that that
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  every year are on my radar and that
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  I I get to report out to our
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  executive team. And in senior leaders. But but,
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  yeah. So thankfully, all of that has been
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  going very well for us and and and
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  and really gives us a good glimpse on
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  the health of our program
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  that's amazing to hear. And I think really
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  smart as you said, to be able to
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  evaluate not only the nurse residents going through
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  the program, but leaders who are working with
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  those residents in understanding, you know, how they're
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  viewing new residents coming through in each given
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  class. So that's really cool to hear. And
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  definitely
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  seems like a smart way to also share
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  the success with the broader leadership team. Now
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  before we wrap up here, I'm wondering, how
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  are you thinking about growth and
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  experience going forward.
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  Sure. So that that definitely is is on
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  our radar. I will tell you 20 23
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  and 20 24 have been our biggest recruitment
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  years to date,
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  which is excellent. Right? We we have a
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  a very strong pipeline of new graduate nurses.
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  We we are hoping that our retention efforts
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  sick and that we maybe can get those
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  numbers down a little bit for the network
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  next year. So while we wanna, you know,
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  certainly grow the program in, you know, programmatic
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  pieces, we we would like to maybe not
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  not need the same Nurse numbers that that
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  we've needed in 23 and 20 24 and
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  really be able to shift that focus
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  to the recruitment of experienced nurses, because we
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  know the value that they bring at the
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  unit level. And so
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  we have, you know, just so many coming
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  on onboard, this year that we hope that
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  with the residency program and all the components
• 14:31
  we have in place that that retaining, you
• 14:34
  know, all of those... Or at least most
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  of those numbers will get us to a
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  great place from a contract labor standpoint
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  and a unit vacancy standpoint that we will
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  you know, not need the same numbers, and
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  that just makes our program more competitive
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  and and allows us to to have, you
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  know, a little bit more stronger focused on
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  the ones currently in the program. As far
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  as member experience, 1 of the things that
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  we're focused on this year is our pre
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  preset.
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  So anytime, you know, we have, you know,
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  large volumes of of new nurses coming in.
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  It is it is pretty taxing from the
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  pre preset standpoint
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  So we are, you know, really working hard
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  and keeping a close eye that we're not
• 15:15
  burning out. Our our veteran nurses on the
• 15:17
  unit. We wanna make sure our onboarding experiences.
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  Positive ones. And so 1 of the new
• 15:23
  things that we've done this year is create
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  what we call a lead pre role on
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  the unit.
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  For And this is a seasoned nurse that
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  has been a pre sector on this unit
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  for, you know, an extended period of time.
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  And if able to not only support the
• 15:39
  unit leaders and how we plan out
• 15:43
  orientation, but also working with maybe those newer
• 15:46
  pre sectors on the floor that are new
• 15:48
  to having an orient and helping supporting them
• 15:51
  in their growth as they're learning how to
• 15:54
  orient someone to the floor. So we... We
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  are already seeing a lot of really
• 15:59
  good good outcomes from this change. And so
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  I think that you know, continuing to focus
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  on that that pre preset role on the
• 16:08
  unit is gonna be key in in member
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  experience, not only, you for the residents coming
• 16:14
  through the program, but any new hire that
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  they... When they arrive to the floor that
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  they're feeling supported, and they have
• 16:20
  that are excited about the role and
• 16:23
  are ready to teach and show them the
• 16:25
  wrote at the bedside.
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  That's amazing here. And you know, definitely is
• 16:32
  exciting to see the opportunities ahead. Lindsay, thank
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  you so much for joining us on the
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  podcast today. This has been really informative and
• 16:39
  exciting to hear about your residency program, and
• 16:41
  I look forward to connecting with you again
• 16:42
  soon.
• 16:44
  Alright. Thanks for having me.