Danbury Hospital Tackles

Nursing Shortage

DANBURY — As hospitals across Connecticut deal with a nationwide nursing shortage, Danbury Health Systems (DHS), the parent company of Danbury Hospital, has developed a number of programs to ensure that its vacancy rates remain low, and that its staffing levels are providing the highest levels of patient safety standards.

Employing aggressive recruitment tactics and attracting candidates with a highly competitive benefit and salary structure, DHS has hired a record number of nurses since last July. Among the hires: 22 graduate nurses and 56 experienced nurses. By the end of the summer, 20 more nurses will be joining the staff.

“We are very satisfied with our ability to attract nurses during a time when the state is competing for the best of the best,” says Mary A. Nolan, vice president of nursing and chief nursing officer, Danbury Health Systems. “Our success is attributed to a number of factors, the most important being that candidates recognize us as a workplace of choice.”

According to the Connecticut Hospital Association, the state’s registered nurse vacancy rate was 6.5 percent in 2003. An aging nursing workforce, combined with a diminished number of students seeking nursing degrees, has contributed to those rates. In sharp contrast, Danbury Hospital’s current vacancy rate is 2.8 percent.

“We’re determined to keep our vacancy rates at a minimum in order to provide the highest level of quality and safe care to our patients,” explains Ms Nolan. “One way we do that is by focusing on retention. Through the efforts of our nursing staff in orienting and mentoring new nurses throughout the year, we’re able to retain the nurses we’ve hired. And, because we recognize that nursing is a demanding and critically important profession, we have instituted ‘shared governance’ — a process that involves nurses in key decisions about the delivery of patient care and their nursing practices.

“In addition, we pay well — at the 75th percentile of the market — for high-performance contributions,” continues Ms Nolan. “We also put a significant amount of effort into recognizing nurses who go beyond the call, and we’re continually fine tuning our care delivery systems to ensure that we’re working at peak effectiveness and efficiency.”

One key to DHS’s successful recruitment efforts has been its innovative Nurse Extern Program that attracts juniors from all types of Registered Nurse nursing programs in Connecticut and New York. This ten-week annual summer program provides a seamless transition between nursing education and nursing practice settings by giving students an opportunity to learn more about the professional practice. This year, students were recruited from several area colleges, including Western Connecticut State University, as well as the University of Connecticut and Mount St Mary’s College in New York.

Another major component of DHS’s recruitment strategy is its “Hot Jobs” program. Courses leading to a degree, license, or certification that prepare DHS employees for a “hot job” — including registered nurses, nursing assistants, radiology technologists, and more — are fully refunded by DHS. Registered nurses receive tuition reimbursement to further their education, often in baccalaureate or master’s degree programs.

In addition, the Hot Jobs program has been instrumental in stabilizing turnover in the nursing assistant profession, as many of these employees take advantage of tuition reimbursement for nursing degrees, filling critical assistant positions for at least four years. In the last two years, some 186 employees have taken advantage of this program, and 15 registered nurses have joined the DHS staff as a result.

“We are proud to serve the Danbury community and will continue to work hard to overcome the challenges presented by the realities of the nursing shortage,” says Ms Nolan. “The nursing profession presents tremendous opportunities and challenges to individuals, and we’re always looking for the best people to join our organization.”