Abstract

One NPD department director was faced with a choice: become irrelevant and extinct or radically change the work being produced within the department. Upon direction from a chief nursing officer to the current department, the director began by conducting an intensive, three-month learning needs assessment and consulting a lean coach. The department held a two-day offsite strategic planning. The resultant vision and strategic objectives shaped the next year of work. The department developed specific metrics based off of the strategic objectives and the NPD scope and standards of practice. These metrics were tracked at a department huddle. Education requests (ERs) was the first process metric identified. The department identified waste by tracking ERs by type, scope, and TAT (turn-around-time). The department also identified large volumes of tasks being completed that were not within the scope of NPD practice. Out of 108 tracked requests only 43% were within scope. Process improvement requests compiled 38% and administrative requests composed a staggering 19%. This data confirmed what the staff had attempted to describe in initial conversations with the new director. The department deployed rapid cycle improvement techniques to start improving employee morale and establish a vetting process for education requests. Within one month, the number of education requests within the big six increased to 86%. Staff morale improved on a metric that was also being tracked by 15%. Sustainment models were developed to capture the improvement. In addition to improving morale and productivity, Lean improvement efforts contributed to roughly $500,000 per year savings in the NPD budget.

Authors

Greta Price

Author Details

M. Greta Price, MSN-Ed, RN-BC, PCCN

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Type

Presentation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

N/A

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

Lean Management, Employee Morale and Engagement

Conference Name

2017 ANPD Annual Convention

Conference Host

Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD)

Conference Location

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Conference Year

2017

Rights Holder

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Review Type

Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

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New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

One NPD department director was faced with a choice: become irrelevant and extinct or radically change the work being produced within the department. Upon direction from a chief nursing officer to the current department, the director began by conducting an intensive, three-month learning needs assessment and consulting a lean coach. The department held a two-day offsite strategic planning. The resultant vision and strategic objectives shaped the next year of work. The department developed specific metrics based off of the strategic objectives and the NPD scope and standards of practice. These metrics were tracked at a department huddle. Education requests (ERs) was the first process metric identified. The department identified waste by tracking ERs by type, scope, and TAT (turn-around-time). The department also identified large volumes of tasks being completed that were not within the scope of NPD practice. Out of 108 tracked requests only 43% were within scope. Process improvement requests compiled 38% and administrative requests composed a staggering 19%. This data confirmed what the staff had attempted to describe in initial conversations with the new director. The department deployed rapid cycle improvement techniques to start improving employee morale and establish a vetting process for education requests. Within one month, the number of education requests within the big six increased to 86%. Staff morale improved on a metric that was also being tracked by 15%. Sustainment models were developed to capture the improvement. In addition to improving morale and productivity, Lean improvement efforts contributed to roughly $500,000 per year savings in the NPD budget.