These new AACN guidelines have the potential to impact how CNOs handle staffing in their health systems.
The American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) hast published the AACN Standards for Appropriate Staffing in Adult Critical Care, in an effort to help health systems tackle nurse staffing.
The standards
The seven key standards are designed to help leaders "incorporate appropriate staffing into everyday operations and patient care," according to a press release. They are also meant to promote a healthy work environment in line with the AACN's HWE standards.
The new standards recommend the following:
- Direct care nurses participate in all aspects of staffing, including planning, implementation, and evaluation.
- Hospital patient care areas establish, evaluate, and refine unit-specific staffing guidelines based upon their impact on patient and nurse outcomes.
- For every shift, patient assignments are based on an accurate assessment of the current nursing workload generated by each patient's needs and align nurse competency with patient characteristics.
- Clinical leaders such as charge nurses, educators, and nurse managers are not included in patient assignments, except in rare crisis situations.
- Staffing plans and patient assignments support the unique needs of nurses who are new to the unit.
- Organizational staffing plans are designed to prioritize the health of the work environment and thus drive nurse retention and optimal patient outcomes.
- Organizational staffing plans anticipate that critically ill or injured patients generally require a ratio of one nurse to two patients.
According to Vicky Good, chief clinical officer at AACN, the standards provide a potential solution to multiple issues in the nursing industry.
"The link between healthy work environments and patient safety, nurse recruitment and retention, and an organization's bottom line is irrefutable," Good said in the press release. "These standards, coupled with a deep commitment to collaboration and change, provide an opportunity for evidence-based transformation that can profoundly improve the U.S. healthcare system's ability to meet patients' needs."
CNO impact
What do these standards mean for CNOs?
Though not mandatory, the new AACN guidelines can serve as a potential blueprint or starting point for nurse leaders to reference when looking at staffing policies and making changes that reflect a healthier work environment.
Good previously told HealthLeaders that the research shows the positive impact of healthy work environments on staff and patient outcomes. Patient outcomes improve, nurse turnover decreases along with burnout and moral distress, and the perception and quality of care improve.
“The evidence is clear that having a healthy work environment is [a] cornerstone to nurse well-being and retention,” Good said, “but now the research even demonstrates [the impact on] our patients.”
G Hatfield is the nursing editor for HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The AACN has published a new set of staffing guidelines for adult clinical care to help guide leaders' approach to nurse staffing.
The standards were made to help health systems create healthier work environments, and for CNOs to use as a potential blueprint for their staffing strategies.