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Promoting Workplace Opportunities
Achieved ANCC Magnet Nursing Status
While fewer than 3% of the nation's hospitals achieve Magnet status,
Illinois hospitals are at 5%. The Magnet recognition program is a voluntary
recognition program developed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center to
acknowledge health care organizations that provide the very best in professional
nursing practice and patient care. The program is a multi-year process requiring
significant time and financial commitments, including site visits and
substantial application fees. To date, the following fourteen Illinois hospitals
have earned this distinguished award:
- Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn
- Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge
- Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago
- Delnor-Community Hospital, Geneva
- Edward Hospital, Naperville
- Memorial Medical Center, Springfield
- Methodist Medical Center of Illinois, Peoria
- Northwest Community Hospital, Arlington Heights
- Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, Chicago
- OSF St. Anthony Medical Center, Rockford
- OSF St. Francis Medical Center, Peoria
- Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
- Rush University Medical Center, Chicago
- University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago
Environmental Enhancements for Nurses
Typically, Illinois hospitals offer:
- Self-scheduling
- Flexible scheduling
- Part-Time/Weekender programs
- Sign-on bonuses
- Retention bonuses
- Performance/loyalty recognition awards
- Onsite nursing degree programs
- Certification/continuing education programs
- Tuition reimbursement and scholarship support
- Career ladders for administrative and clinical personnel
Grow Your Own Program
- Hillsboro Area Hospital, Hillsboro
- Offers Standard Clinical Affiliations Agreements for PT, LPN, CNA, and EMT
employees.
- Offers a distance learning program to nursing students.
- Iroquois Memorial Hospital & Resident Home, Watseka
Provides opportunities and financial support for local students studying to be
physicians in exchange for the student returning to practice in the local
service area. The program offers opportunities job shadowing, summer
traineeships, grants, stipends, and practice management.
- St. John's Hospital, Springfield
- Offers Standard Clinical Affiliations Agreements for RN, PT, LPN, CNA, and
EMT employees.
- Provides opportunities and financial support for local students studying to
be nurses or physical therapists in exchange for the student returning to
practice in the local service area.
- Offers clinical sites for St. John's College, LLCC, MacMurray, Mennonite at
ISU, Millikin, Heartland Community College, Richland Community College
(nursing students and surg techs), SIU-E, and CACC for LPNs.
Mentoring/Job Shadowing
- Hillsboro Area Hospital, Hillsboro
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Several medical staff employees mentor SIU medical residents. These residents
are offered on-campus housing at no charge.
- A mentoring opportunity with the Big Brother/Big Sister organization will
begin in the near future.
Nurse Refresher Course
- Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, Barrington
In partnership with Harper College, the hospital offers a nurse refresher course for nurses
returning to the profession and/or acquiring a license. The project is designed
for nurses who have attained academic credentials and need
remediation/refresher training to regain or obtain licensure.
Nursing Research to Improve Work Environment
- Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Downers Grove; Advocate
Trinity Hospital, Chicago; and Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center,
Chicago
The University of Illinois College of Nursing is collaborating with these
three hospitals to develop a "magnet" work environment model to attract and
retain nurses. The program is funded by a $1.6 million grant from the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
- Decatur Memorial Hospital, Decatur
Participates in National Institute of Health's research project with 160 other
hospitals nationwide to study nurse staffing and patient outcomes.
Onsite Support
- Edward Hospital, Naperville
- Supports a weekend program by providing Lewis University's nursing program
the clinical resources to conduct BSN completion and MSN programs.
- Expended over $1 million per year to ease the transition from student
experience to licensed professional nurse employee. The mentoring program
supports over 250 new graduates as they assume patient care responsibilities.
- Greenville Regional Hospital, Greenville
- Partners with Kaskaskia College offering onsite basic, intermediate, and
advanced computer skills to employees at no cost.
- Offers ACLS classes four times a year.
- Provides online education for required programs for all staff with a 99.75
compliance rate for the last OSHA-required program.
- Mount Sinai Hospital, Chicago
- Provides workforce development services through assessment, career
counseling, case management, occupational internships, education, and
occupational skills training and post-training placement to help unemployed
and under-employed develop skills and obtain training needed to become
gainfully employed and achieve economic self-sufficiency.
- Offers the public access to computers to conduct job search, type resumes,
and review job listings. The computers are equipped with self-paced
educational skill-building software.
- Offers new hire lunches held at 30, 45, and 90 days to gather feedback from
new caregivers and make arrangements to improve the orientation process.
- Offers a New Graduate Residency Program that is facilitated by three
masters-prepared educators who oversee the specialty specific cohorts of the
first year of the nurses' employment.
- Offers roughly 40 to 50 newly graduated nurses a residency program to assist
in the transition to staff nurse.
- Offers ongoing training in leadership development for Patient Care
Coordinators, Preceptors, and Charge Nurses.
- Offers preceptor workshops for preparation for the New Graduate Residency
Program.
- Offers Patient Care Coordinators and Charge Nurses a 4-hour training day
focusing on leadership development.
- Offers Project CARE to improve staff morale and increase interdisciplinary
communication among caregivers. Additional initiatives will focus on
increasing collaboration and collegiality between nurses and doctors through
interdisciplinary rounding.
- Offers nurse educators work with the Illinois Department of Labor on a
career lattice program, which facilitates Certified Nurse Aides advancing
their education.
- Flexible scheduling, weekends, 12-hour shifts, and part-time schedules, is
offered to staff nurses and incumbent workers returning to school.
Workplace Opportunity
- Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Downers Grove
- Graduate RN Residency Program
- Provides graduates an opportunity
to hone clinical technical skills, develop clinical judgment, and learn to
communicate effectively with all members of the health care team. Classes and
support sessions are offered throughout the new graduate’s first 12 months of
employment. In 2005, eight new graduate RNs participated with 100% retention
and in 2006, 32 participants are anticipated.
- Student Nurse Summer Externship
- Offers a 10-week program, which allows nursing students a unique opportunity
to work and learn while assisting the RN with his/her work assignment. By
participating in this program, the student nurses enhance their nursing education by learning “first hand” from
other nurses about the role of a professional nurse; improve their clinical skills while working with the hospital’s
expert team of physicians, nurses, and staff; and, works in a shared governance environment that embraces values that
go hand in hand with the delivery of exceptional quality clinical care.
- Onsite Completion Program
- Partnered with Lewis University to
offer an onsite Masters Associate Organizational Leadership, with a total of
24 participants.
- Offers an onsite RN-BSN program partnering with Elmhurst College with six
participants.
- Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge
Recognizes employees for their outstanding endeavors and achievements, loyalty
and work ethic for many years of service with an "Outstanding Worker Awards"
luncheon.
- Condell Medical Center, Libertyville
- Facilitates student internships and coordinates clinical affiliation
agreements with over 50 institutions of higher learning.
- Sponsors a paid Nursing Extern program, providing senior nursing students
the opportunity to experience 10 weeks of precepted experience with an
experienced RN.
- Hamilton Memorial Hospital District, McLeansboro
- Offers educational assistance to employees who have worked at least six
months.
- Funds are paid out upfront for tuition, books, and fees. In 2005, nine
employees took advantage of the program.
- Mount Sinai Hospital, Chicago
Partners with Cook County Bureau of Health Services focusing on incumbent
workers and their interest in advancing into LPN and RN positions.
- Pekin Hospital, Pekin
Offers a Student Nurse Intern program during the last year of school.
Students are eligible to work one-on-one with an RN up to 16 hours each week.
- Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center, Joliet
Established an accelerated
evening RN nursing program for incumbent workers. In Fall 2005, 12 management
team employees participated, and for Spring 2007, 17 staff nurses are
projected to participate.
- Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center, Joliet; Silver Cross Hospital,
Joliet; and, Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers, Morris
Jointly administers a bridge program with Joliet Junior College for the Medical
Records/Health Technician (Coder) occupation. The program is designed to help
incumbent workers advance into occupations with a high demand. The program
provides
job-site career guidance services.
- Riverside Medical Center, Kankakee
A network of Rush system hospitals in the metropolitan Chicago region
has
expanded the HeartMath program. The program enrolls 170 RNs focusing on job
related stress and measured job satisfaction pre- and post- completion. The goals are to lower nurse turnover rates and improve
employee job satisfaction. Riverside is committed to replication of the program
to other Rush system hospitals.
- St. James Hospital & Health Centers; Advocate South Suburban Hospital,
Hazel Crest; and, South Suburban College, South Holland
A partnerships administers program assistance to incumbent workers to
advance their careers. MSNs provide onsite academic instruction for the group
that includes flexible work schedules, an insurance benefit
program, educational enhancement modules, onsite
career advisement, and vocational assessment.
- St. John's Hospital, Springfield
- Offers a number of nursing fellowship programs to new nursing graduates and
nurses making significant career changes. The eleven-week fellowship programs
offer in-depth didactic instruction and clinical experience supported by
unit-based educators and preceptors, along with weekly post conferences.
- Offers a paid student nurse internship program to gain valuable nursing
experience and skills. The eight-week summer program is for nursing students
entering their senior year of school.
- Southern Illinois Healthcare (Hamilton Memorial Hospital District,
McLeansboro; Harrisburg Medical
Center, Harrisburg; Herrin Hospital, Herrin; Memorial Hospital of Carbondale,
Carbondale; St. Joseph Memorial
Hospital, Murphysboro; and, St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Inc.,
Centralia)
Offers an LPN-to-RN bridge program for SIH employees. The program consists of a three-month orientation
with SIH scholarship
eligibility. A requirement of this program is a flexible work schedule and floating
to all SIH facilities.
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