Abstract

Poster presentation

Session H presented Tuesday, October 1, 2:30-3:30 pm

Purpose: The goal of this project was to improve inter-professional communication and increase staff engagement. As a byproduct of these goals, the team was hopeful this tool would also expand the bandwidth and accessibility of leadership, particularly to the off-shift team members.

Design: Leaders are tasked with implementing initiatives, monitoring projects, and engaging the inter-disciplinary team. In 2018, the Emergency Department at Peconic Bay Medical Center underwent a change in leadership. The new leadership recognized a void in regard to effective and vital communication. Knowing staff engagement was vital to the success of the department, we wanted to initiate a workplace development project to provide the staff with a forum to share their ideas, provide feedback, and promote the practice of nursing autonomy.

Setting: a teaching, suburban community hospital.

Participants/Subjects: All Ed RN's, Ancillary staff and members of leadership participated in this project.

Methods: Following the identification of a web based application, the team recognized this application as a potential solution to communication barriers. Key stakeholders were asked to provide their experience with similar platforms, as well as their ideas for implementation. The innovative application was vetted by our legal department, sponsored by our executive team, and rolled out to the staff. The application can be downloaded to any smartphone and is accessible from any PC. Content is moderated by a member of the leadership team. Once any member of the inter-professional team has signed into the application they will have access to previously recorded meetings, educational sessions, staff updates, networking events, etc. What makes this method of communication innovative and effective is the real-time transmission of information. When a post is made, all members of the group receive a notification alert to their smart phone device. Unlike traditional email, the application comes to you. The platform tracks usage allowing for easy extraction of information with respect to active and passive participation. Further, Press Ganey staff engagement surveys were used to guage trends in engagement.

esults/Outcomes: Currently, 92% of staff have active accounts on the social media platform. Six months after launching Workplace. The Press Ganey staff engagement survey demonstrated a leap from a low tier 3 to a high tier 2. Action planning readiness increased from moderate to moderately high. In addition, the unit has seen a significant decline in RN turnover rates from 23% to 6%.

Implications: The project has ushered in a sense of purpose to the entire department. They now have a venue that facilitates group discussions 24/7. This innovative platform has eliminated shift barriers and brought the team closer. This is reflected in no current FTE vacancies and a turnover rate of 6%.

Author Details

Lindsay D. Quinnell, BSN, RN

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Type

Poster

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

N/A

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

Emergency Nursing, Social Media, Engagement

Conference Name

Emergency Nursing 2019

Conference Host

Emergency Nurses Association

Conference Location

Austin, Texas, USA

Conference Year

2019

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

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Using social media to improve staff engagement

Austin, Texas, USA

Poster presentation

Session H presented Tuesday, October 1, 2:30-3:30 pm

Purpose: The goal of this project was to improve inter-professional communication and increase staff engagement. As a byproduct of these goals, the team was hopeful this tool would also expand the bandwidth and accessibility of leadership, particularly to the off-shift team members.

Design: Leaders are tasked with implementing initiatives, monitoring projects, and engaging the inter-disciplinary team. In 2018, the Emergency Department at Peconic Bay Medical Center underwent a change in leadership. The new leadership recognized a void in regard to effective and vital communication. Knowing staff engagement was vital to the success of the department, we wanted to initiate a workplace development project to provide the staff with a forum to share their ideas, provide feedback, and promote the practice of nursing autonomy.

Setting: a teaching, suburban community hospital.

Participants/Subjects: All Ed RN's, Ancillary staff and members of leadership participated in this project.

Methods: Following the identification of a web based application, the team recognized this application as a potential solution to communication barriers. Key stakeholders were asked to provide their experience with similar platforms, as well as their ideas for implementation. The innovative application was vetted by our legal department, sponsored by our executive team, and rolled out to the staff. The application can be downloaded to any smartphone and is accessible from any PC. Content is moderated by a member of the leadership team. Once any member of the inter-professional team has signed into the application they will have access to previously recorded meetings, educational sessions, staff updates, networking events, etc. What makes this method of communication innovative and effective is the real-time transmission of information. When a post is made, all members of the group receive a notification alert to their smart phone device. Unlike traditional email, the application comes to you. The platform tracks usage allowing for easy extraction of information with respect to active and passive participation. Further, Press Ganey staff engagement surveys were used to guage trends in engagement.

esults/Outcomes: Currently, 92% of staff have active accounts on the social media platform. Six months after launching Workplace. The Press Ganey staff engagement survey demonstrated a leap from a low tier 3 to a high tier 2. Action planning readiness increased from moderate to moderately high. In addition, the unit has seen a significant decline in RN turnover rates from 23% to 6%.

Implications: The project has ushered in a sense of purpose to the entire department. They now have a venue that facilitates group discussions 24/7. This innovative platform has eliminated shift barriers and brought the team closer. This is reflected in no current FTE vacancies and a turnover rate of 6%.