Date of Graduation

Summer 8-9-2023

Document Access

Project/Capstone - Global access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

College/School

School of Nursing and Health Professions

Program

Kaiser cohort MSN capstone

First Advisor

Liesel Buchner

Second Advisor

David Ainsworth

Abstract

Background: The setting for this study is the implementation of a wellness program for nurse leaders at Hospital A, a healthcare organization servicing the South Sacramento area in California. Healthcare is a challenging and high-demand profession, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated an issue of burnout and unwavering job-related stress for physicians and employees. This remains true for nurse leader professionals who take on the responsibility to ensure safety and quality always remains at ideal measures for any facility.

Problem: During the past several years of the pandemic, the nurse leader role has had to endure several unknowns, placing significant stress on many, causing some to exit their role. In Hospital A, the facility has lost an average of three nurse leaders each year during the pandemic. Aside from having to deal with a once in a lifetime public health emergency, another contributing factor could well be the lack of a wellness program to aide in dealing with the strenuous work associated with being a nurse leader.

Intervention: The goal of implementing a wellness program for nurse leaders is to improve their overall wellness as measured by a survey pre and post implementation. The survey consists of questions pertaining to five elements of employee health and wellness: emotional, environmental, occupational, physical health, and social well-being. Specific Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles will be created based on the measures of the survey.

Outcome Measure: The outcome measure for this quality improvement project was an improvement in wellness scores by 20% from pre and post implementation surveys. The process measure for this project was a 5% increase from baseline for the specific elements of wellness addressed by the PDSA cycles: occupational well-being and physical health.

Results: A total of 40 nurse leaders took the wellness survey pre-implementation on May 1, 2023. After two and a half months of the wellness program, which included several PDSA cycles, the wellness scores remained unchanged from a baseline score of 3.83/5.00 rating to a 3.80/5.00. The process measures around occupational well-being and physical health had a 7.9% and 5.5% increase, respectively, within the project time period.

Conclusion: The implementation of a wellness program shows benefits to nurse leaders in certain aspects of their workplace wellness. As Hospital A continues to transition out of the pandemic back into normal operations, sustainability of the program must remain a focus to ensure nurse leader wellness remains a top priority for organizational goals.

Download

Share

COinS