Rush-Copley Medical Center Selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to Participate in Program Aimed Retaining Experienced Nurses

(January 22, 2007) – Rush-Copley Medical Center has been awarded a $74,970 grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to help test new ways to keep experienced nurses in our nation’s hospitals. 

Rush-Copley is one of only 13 hospitals across the country selected by RWJF to participate in its new program, Wisdom at Work: Retaining Experienced Nurses, which will begin to build an evidence base for what works to help hospitals retain qualified nurses.  Under the 18-month grant, Rush-Copley will give experienced nurses more control over patient flow, discharge and admission.

“Hospitals need to find effective ways to retain experienced nurses, in order to ensure high-quality patient care,” said Carol Gouty, Director of Professional Practice at Rush-Copley Medical Center.  “We are pleased to be a part of this exciting and innovative program that the Foundation has launched.”

According to the most recent national nursing workforce survey by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the average age for registered nurses in this country is nearly 47 years.  Forty-six percent of practicing nurses over age 50 work in hospitals.  These demographics pose serious healthcare implications for our nation – especially in light of projections that more than 650,000 new jobs in nursing will be created over the next decade. Yet, according to Linda Aiken, the Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor in Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, an estimated 450,000 nurses will have retired during that time. By 2020, the nurse shortage is expected to increase from its current level of 150,000 to 800,000. 

“Nursing is at the heart of patient care,” said Nancy Fishman of RWJF. “This project is part of a national movement to expand our understanding of how we can hold on to good, experienced nurses by providing solid, outcomes-based evidence that will help hospitals across the country develop effective retention strategies.”

The Foundation has identified a number of promising retention interventions in a paper called Wisdom at Work: The Importance of the Older and Experienced Nurse in the Workplace (www.rwjf.org/files/publications/other/wisdomatwork.pdf.)  For more information on the Wisdom at Work program, visit www.rwjf.org.