LAUSR

In July 2017, my director kept asking me to find out how other organizations were dealing with the high percentage of newly licensed nurses (NLNs) on the acute care units. The hiring data collected from our health system revealed amuchhigher percentageofNLNs hired than experienced nurses. This percentage has steadily increased over recent years to a concerning level. At one of our acute care facilities, 70% of all nurses hired for 2017 were new graduates. Nursing professional development (NPD) practitioners were being over taxed with orientating their NLNs, and some were expressing concern about the ratio of new graduates. There were not enough expert nurses on the units to assist the NLNs after they completed their orientation and when they were practicing independently. We had implemented a transitional support system, the resident development specialist role, years previously. However, we needed more information on how other organizations were meeting the acute, daily, operational needs of the NLNs, as they cared for patients at the bedside. Later that month, I ran into a colleague who had worked as an Associate Chief Nursing Officer (ACNO) for a healthcare system, Dr. Lori Lupe. Dr. Lupe had successfully implemented a new model to meet those acute needs of the NLNs on units that had minimal expert nurses to assist at the bedside. Dr. Lupe had worked as an ACNO and shared her story of how her organizationmet the needs of the high ratio of NLNs on acute care units.