2021 Annual Conference

CNS Improving Outcomes
CNS as Project Manager
Role of CNS in COVID-19 Pandemic
Capture Value of the CNS
Interprofessional Collaboration

 Significance: Critical care nurses are a crucial asset to managing patients with ventilators, vasopressors, prone therapy, and other treatment modalities.The COVID-19 pandemic has placed an unprecedented strain on hospitals nation-wide, with an extra burden on critical care services. The acuity of the patients, increased numbers, and need for advanced treatment modalities increase demand for critical care nurses. Burnout, moral distress, quarantine, and family needs contribute to call outs, causing staffing shortages and unmanageable schedules. This session will explore the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) role in implementing various training strategies, staffing models, cross training, and different scheduling methods to address the gap in critical care skills, knowledge, using the AACN Synergy model. CNSs applied their core competences in all three spears to improve patient outcomes. These strategies were effective in assisting nurse shortages, utilizing nurses of different training backgrounds, decreasing cost, avoiding furloughs, and enhancing nursing skills.

Evaluation Methods: Critical care skill ongoing pre and post survey, skills workshop evaluation, and preceptor and staff feedback

Outcomes: Successfully implemented strategies and methods for “COVID critical care” by education, training, while maintaining safety and quality, and ensuring adequate support of nursing staff amid the crisis. These efforts were also lead to increase hospital capacity to accommodate serge of COVID patients in the area by expanding critical care services to non-ICU areas and opening new COVID ICUs

Implications: Healthcare leaders will learn how cross-training strategies utilized at a larger academic institution could help with optimal utilization of available nursing staff to manage a staffing shortage during any disaster, crisis, or emergency.