Nurse-Friendly Program
for Small/Rural Hospitals
A Program to Enhance Patient Care and the Retention of Nurses
What is the issue?
Texas, like most states, continues to struggle with a serious nursing shortage that threatens to impact the quality of health care delivered throughout the state. An adequate supply of nurses is especially crucial to small and rural hospitals of 100 beds or less where the loss of a single nurse could interrupt the stability of services provided and the quality of care delivered.
Is Texas doing anything new to address this problem?
Yes! Assistance in addressing certain key nursing issues to attract and retain qualified nurses is now possible through the Texas Nurse-Friendly Program for Small/Rural Hospitals. This five-year, $1.2 million program is funded by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.
Program Goal: To improve the workplace for nurses in small and rural Texas hospitals (<100 beds)
Collaborating Partners include:
- East Texas Area Health Education Center (AHEC) and its regional AHEC centers
- Texas Nurses Association (TNA)
- West Texas AHEC/Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Program Objective:
-
Work with 30 Texas hospitals over the next three years, impacting an estimated 1,400 registered nurses and their 97,500 patients
Process for becoming a “TNA Nurse-Friendly Hospital”:
· Collaborating partners visit the client hospital and provide no-cost consultation
·
The client hospital incorporates all 12 TNA-developed criteria
into hospital policies
and procedures
· East Texas AHEC recommends the hospital to TNA
·
TNA reviews required documentation and makes a decision
regarding “Nurse-
Friendly” designation
Nurse-Friendly Hospital Criteria
1. Control of Nursing Practice
2. Safety of the Work Environment
3. Systems Exist to Address
Patient Care Concerns
4. Nurse Orientation
5. Chief Nursing Officer
6. Professional Development
7. Competitive Wages
8. Nurse Recognition
9. Balanced Lifestyle
10. Zero Tolerance Policy for Nurse Abuse
11. Middle Management Accountability
12. Quality Initiative
