This is Laura Diet with Becker healthcare care
podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
Lindsey Horn, manager of nurse residences at Nova
Health. Lindsay is a pleasure to have you
on the podcast today.
Thanks for having me. No. I'm really looking
forward to our discussion and digging a bit
deeper into what you're doing at Nova in
terms of building out in our pipeline and,
really training nurses of the future. I know
such an important aspect of health care today,
And really a lot of organizations trying to
make sure they have a strong pipeline going
forward. So I'm I'm excited to dive in.
But before we do, I was wondering could
you tell us a little bit more about
yourself and your background? Or Sure. Be happy
to. So I am Lindsay Horn and and
the manager of the residency
program here at Nova Health and Never health
is a large Multi
organization, spans both North and South Carolina,
and we employ Christ 40000
team members. And so I'm really proud to
say that I've spent my entire career at
Nova Health and various nursing roles
from, you know, labor delivery, bedside nurse to
nurse educator and and, you know, most currently,
my current role, but the manager of the
nurse residency program, which I think has been
my favorite thus far. And so throughout my
nursing journey, I have spent many many hours,
preset and onboarding, new nurses, see the profession
and and really no matter what role I
was in. It just has have has been
my passion. And so
it it all boils down to my clinical
experiences that I had a student at Nova
Health. It really was the driving factor on
where I wanted to work as a nurse.
And so
it it has been really great for me
thus far. But I will say that transition
into nursing practice, my very first year in
the profession was probably the the hardest of
my my life. And and... But, thankfully, I
had such a great experience at Nova Hill.
That it really helped me settle into the
clinical setting and really just,
you know,
reiterated that, you know, having that... Supportive and
welcoming environment is really key for new clinicians
as they're their they're learning kind of the
complexities of health care. And so I I
will say in 20 16, I was presented
the opportunity to build and
begin, from the ground up, a a nurse
residency program for Nova Health, and it has
been some of my best work, I think
today and and work that I'm so proud
of as we we now recruit nurse residents
or brand new nurses from all over the
country. We have an accreditation with distinction that
we have maintained, and and we're really proud
of that
and we we have a team that just
find so much joy in making this a
great experience for people that are joining our
organization. And so... Next month, I will actually
graduate our twentieth cohort
of brand new nurses at Nova Health, and
so that's that equals out to about 4300
nurses that I've had the opportunity to work
with since 20 16. So it has been...
An absolute fun journey, and I've learned a
lot around you know, along the way, and
and I'm excited to hear a little bit
about, kinda half how our program works.
Well, that's amazing here in really impressive 4300
nurses,
don't you know, coming through your program and
being able to,
touch their career journeys and set them off
for success. I can imagine that's a huge
undertaking, but also something,
should be really excited and proud of.
Yes. It is. It's it's... It has been
really on work.
Excellent. Well, I'm wondering first and foremost, what
makes the nurse residency
program at Health unique. What really do you
do that sets you apart?
Well, I think we have you know, several
pieces that that are unique about our residency
program. I think first foremost we're a homegrown
program.
You know, most large multi site
organizations really do, you know, have to rely
a lot of vendors and things like that
to operationalize these just very large,
I programs, but we have... We've really built
ours from the ground up with a special
emphasis on what we we know and we
want for our organization, which is extremely competent
and competent new nurses. And so
some of the unique pieces
that that I think we offer is we
are a 12 month program. You were gonna
see a lot across the country about our
6 months some that are 3 months. But
we really feel strongly, and that 12 months
is is is what new nurses need, to
feel confident
at the bedside. And so it is a
massive investment for our organization. It can it
can can be expensive
but it really has been a
a win win for not only the nurses
joining our team, but the unit,
that are looking to fill vacancies on their
floor. So some other pieces that I think
make us unique and have really contributed to
our success are that we are a centralized
residency program.
And with a centralized
that model. So we do not hire new
nurses directly to any of our acute care
units. They come into the residency program,
and we oversee their experience for that very
first year. And so this allows the residency
leaders to work very closely with not only
the residents but also the unit to make
sure that this onboarding experience is smooth. We
make sure that they are on the right
units and that they are set up for
success, with their predecessor,
their
education,
etcetera. And so having a team that is
dedicated,
and do that first year, for new nurses
has been key in not only the... How
the residents are feeling about it, but also
in our overall retention. We're able to quickly
move residents out of areas that maybe aren't
the right fit and and try other areas
within the organization that might be
just, you know, better suited for that particular
resident and their skill level. And so that,
we we have really
you know, been proud of as part of
our program.
I think the the next 1 that comes
to mind is that we allow residents to
rotate through different units,
within,
our system. So that... We don't have them
when they are hired on,
committed to 1 specific unit at 1 specific
facility.
If they are a critical care resident, they
might get to try a medical. I you
and a neuro Icu and a cardiac Icu.
So we really give them a lot to
the additional experiences that first year,
to help them see really what kind of
nurse they're meant to be. It also helps
our unit leaders see which new grads or
the right fit for their unit and their
team. So from a culture standpoint,
this has has been
a huge,
success of our program because we are able
to get residents in in the right homes
where they will hopefully be Novo nurses for
many years to come. So those are probably,
I think the big ones that we get
a lot of comments about from applicants and
from unit leaders is
the ability to rotate and having that centralized
leadership model
have been
have been big keys to our success.
Oh, that's great to hear. You know? And
I really appreciate you talking about that
12 month program you have at Nova, and
it seems really like a fascinating opportunity to
have the ability rotating through different departments and
and finding the right units
for for each different
training nurse resident, a or from your perspective,
when you look at building something like this
and, bringing in
talented people to be part of the residency
program,
are they typically pretty ex... Excited about it
or or, you know, nervous about this being
different from what most programs are like, How
do you really sell that to the nurses
coming in? And then, like you said, it's
a big investment from the health system side.
So really showing, you know, the rest of
your, the leadership team, what difference it makes
to be able to of this type of
program even though it is a bigger investment.
Yeah. So you know, thankfully, the the program...
The way that we market it, it it's
it's pretty easy to market. You know, what
we know new graduates, what they're looking for,
it's lots of support. While they are very
excited about their brand new nursing role.
They also are very nervous.
Social media, you know,
in today's time, doesn't always paint nursing
units as the most supportive places to
to begin. And so we we have our
work cut out for us there. And I
think that's 1 of the areas that we
do well on the front end or pre
hire if we have many touch points with
them there to reassure that they are in
good hands. Here's all the things that we
have planned for you.
We we do a lot of of just
touch points
before they even began to kinda hopefully settle
some of those nerves that they might have
about starting their new role and they get
to meet the... Residency leaders very early on
in the process. So they're very used to
us
before they even begin on the nursing unit.
And so our managers, I think,
you know, they they see their excitement when
they come to the floor.
They also know the caliber of candidates that
a residency program,
recruits. And so I think that excites them
to see people that are excited about nursing.
And that are,
you know, being followed very closely by the
nurse residency team. So there's a partnership that
we've formed
with the unit leaders that we're gonna work
together to make this a good experience and
to make sure that you're getting nurses
that are good fit for your units.
And we're also gonna be helping the residents,
making sure that they're landing in areas that
they're really happy about and feel good about.
And so with all of the options of
our program and the flexibility to rotate units,
we are seeing our new hires or come
in not quite as anxious,
as as we did before the program because
they know that they're sent they're gonna have
a full 12 months to figure it out
and figure out what they like and really
where they're meant to be and what type
of nursing is really right for them.
That's great to hear. Now, how do you
measure success for the program?
Yeah. So that's something we're constantly looking at,
you know, with... I know I'm in it
prior, but residency programs are a massive investment
for healthcare organizations and quite expensive. And so
We have lots of metrics that we we
keep close eye on
to make sure that we are seeing the
success that that we're looking for. And so
come some of the... The key metrics that
that we we wanna see is is participant
feedback. So we... Every graduating cohort, we... We
receive feedback from candidates that or residents that
have been in the program.
We want to know what was their overall
satisfaction of the program. We have scores there
we look closely at. What we also look
at, is this a program they would recommend
to others.
With cohorts as large as ours, it's the
best recruitment tool to... Have residency graduates that
wanna go out and tell their friend, hey,
this is where you wanna be as a
new nurse. And so we have found that
if we watch those numbers very closely. We
have a really good idea on on what,
you know, what they're saying about their experience.
And so that's that's 1 thing that we
keep a close By. We also are looking
at our nurse leader
feedback. From senior leaders, to nursing directors, By
as well as our unit leaders? We wanna
know what is their overall satisfaction
with the program? Are they filling vacancies through
this pipeline, are they getting the caliber of
candidates
that they're looking for. And overall, do they
feel like it's a good investment for Nova
help. So I do think these are the
key the key ones that we want to
keep our eyes on to make sure that
they are
extremely positive,
because we know that if we have
you know, residents that or feeling good about
their overall experience and willing to recommend it
to others, and we have unit leaders that
feel like this is a good investment and
our and are filling vacancies with this pipeline
that we are moving in the right direction.
So
you know, in addition to those things,
we do like to look at retention data.
That's a big big metric as well, and
then, our overall recruitment number. So I would
say,
those those are the big ones that that
every year are on my radar and that
I I get to report out to our
executive team. And in senior leaders. But but,
yeah. So thankfully, all of that has been
going very well for us and and and
and really gives us a good glimpse on
the health of our program
that's amazing to hear. And I think really
smart as you said, to be able to
evaluate not only the nurse residents going through
the program, but leaders who are working with
those residents in understanding, you know, how they're
viewing new residents coming through in each given
class. So that's really cool to hear. And
definitely
seems like a smart way to also share
the success with the broader leadership team. Now
before we wrap up here, I'm wondering, how
are you thinking about growth and
experience going forward.
Sure. So that that definitely is is on
our radar. I will tell you 20 23
and 20 24 have been our biggest recruitment
years to date,
which is excellent. Right? We we have a
a very strong pipeline of new graduate nurses.
We we are hoping that our retention efforts
sick and that we maybe can get those
numbers down a little bit for the network
next year. So while we wanna, you know,
certainly grow the program in, you know, programmatic
pieces, we we would like to maybe not
not need the same Nurse numbers that that
we've needed in 23 and 20 24 and
really be able to shift that focus
to the recruitment of experienced nurses, because we
know the value that they bring at the
unit level. And so
we have, you know, just so many coming
on onboard, this year that we hope that
with the residency program and all the components
we have in place that that retaining, you
know, all of those... Or at least most
of those numbers will get us to a
great place from a contract labor standpoint
and a unit vacancy standpoint that we will
you know, not need the same numbers, and
that just makes our program more competitive
and and allows us to to have, you
know, a little bit more stronger focused on
the ones currently in the program. As far
as member experience, 1 of the things that
we're focused on this year is our pre
preset.
So anytime, you know, we have, you know,
large volumes of of new nurses coming in.
It is it is pretty taxing from the
pre preset standpoint
So we are, you know, really working hard
and keeping a close eye that we're not
burning out. Our our veteran nurses on the
unit. We wanna make sure our onboarding experiences.
Positive ones. And so 1 of the new
things that we've done this year is create
what we call a lead pre role on
the unit.
For And this is a seasoned nurse that
has been a pre sector on this unit
for, you know, an extended period of time.
And if able to not only support the
unit leaders and how we plan out
orientation, but also working with maybe those newer
pre sectors on the floor that are new
to having an orient and helping supporting them
in their growth as they're learning how to
orient someone to the floor. So we... We
are already seeing a lot of really
good good outcomes from this change. And so
I think that you know, continuing to focus
on that that pre preset role on the
unit is gonna be key in in member
experience, not only, you for the residents coming
through the program, but any new hire that
they... When they arrive to the floor that
they're feeling supported, and they have
that are excited about the role and
are ready to teach and show them the
wrote at the bedside.
That's amazing here. And you know, definitely is
exciting to see the opportunities ahead. Lindsay, thank
you so much for joining us on the
podcast today. This has been really informative and
exciting to hear about your residency program, and
I look forward to connecting with you again
soon.
Alright. Thanks for having me.