Innovative Workforce Plan: Recently Graduated Nurses as Super Users for EHR Implementation in a Multi-Hospital Organization

<p>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.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Level thesis:degree_level

Project

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Nursing

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Bullard, Katherine L

Contributors dc:contributor

• Marjorie Barter, RN, EdD, CNL, CENP
• Elena Capella, EdD, MSN/MPA, RN
• Ann Dechairo-Marino, PhD, RN, NEA-BC

• EHR implementation
• EHR super user
• technology adoption
• nurses as EHR super users
• promoting EHR meaningful use
• Health Information Technology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://repository.usfca.edu/dnp/50

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.usfca.edu:dnp-1060