Date of Graduation
Fall 12-12-2014
Document Type
Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
College/School
School of Nursing and Health Professions
Department/Program
Nursing
First Advisor
Marjorie Barter, RN, EdD, CNL, CENP
Second Advisor
Elena Capella, EdD, MSN/MPA, RN
Third Advisor
Ann Dechairo-Marino, PhD, RN, NEA-BC
Abstract
A regional health system’s decision to rapidly implement a new electronic health record (EHR) in order to meet Stage 2 meaningful use requirements led to a need for innovative cost-containment strategies. Tapping the local pool of unemployed newly graduated nurses as half the required super user workforce leveraged the technology skills of novice nurses registered nurses as trainers of experienced nurses in five hospitals. The novel workforce migrated from hospital to hospital, thereby reducing the number of experienced nurses reassigned to super user duties in each hospital. This strategy also reduced the amount of contract labor required to backfill nurse super users’ clinical shifts. The innovative model reduced labor costs associated with super user staffing by 31.8%, while positioning the organization for successful attestation to Stage 2 meaningful use objectives. Employment of the recently graduated nurses as RN Residents upon completion of the EHR implementation enabled the organization to augment its clinical workforce with expert users of its EHR, and to rapidly achieve Stage 2 meaningful use compliance.
Recommended Citation
Bullard, Katherine L., "Innovative Workforce Plan: Recently Graduated Nurses as Super Users for EHR Implementation in a Multi-Hospital Organization" (2014). Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects. 50.
https://repository.usfca.edu/dnp/50
