“Our CareThrough project leader understands nurse workflows, and the unique day-to-day challenges we face.”

The chief nursing officer of a high acuity Hospital in Florida had weathered many storms by being prepared, and proactive. When the headlines read of widespread nurse fatigue and burnout, she took action quickly to protect the compassionate men and women on her team. Preserving the health of nurses became a top priority.

As a long-time champion of workplace wellness and job satisfaction for her staff, she was keenly aware of the growing burnout epidemic. Still, with retention challenges, and a reduced job pool of qualified nurses in the area, there wasn’t an evident solution to prevent the nurses on staff from working longer over-time hours, and spending less time with their families.

While the providers in the hospital utilized ScribeAmerica medical scribes to combat electronic medical record fatigue, as well as assist with ancillary duties, a similar solution for nurses was not readily available with the hospital’s existing staff.

“I finally have time to work on projects I haven’t had time to pursue. We discussed improving the prescription delivery system over a year ago, and now we’ll have the bandwidth to do it.”

Facing the challenge of increased nurse burnout head-on, the hospital partnered with CareThrough for a data driven, innovative solution. The plan paired nurses with Care Team Assistants to augment the everyday patient care delivery challenges. Nurse CTAs provided highly-skilled support. Having received robust training to check vital signs, update charts, and answer patient call bells, the nurses on staff immediately felt the difference.

“Our CTA helped a geriatric patient ambulate to the bathroom. It may seem like a minor task, but over the course of days, it’s saved me a lot of time.”

Central to the program was compiling baseline data to measure outcomes after the nurses were supported by CTA care. While burnout was threatening to undermine work-place satisfaction and patient engagement, the numbers painted a clear picture of the value Nurse CTA’s brought to the overall workflow.

With CTAs beside them during each shift, call bell response times decreased, a metric the hospital prioritized, and the rate of infection dropped as well. Nurse CTA support led to more time for bathing patients, limiting the spread of infections. Another important metric that even seasoned nurses were surprised to note—Nurse CTAs reduced overtime hours.

When the numbers were tallied the savings from cost effective support reached meant more resources for quality care delivery.

“Adding another body to the mix of an already crowded floor didn’t seem like a good idea, but facing a nurse staffing shortage and having difficulty retaining nurses, the opportunity was clear—hiring nurse CTAs was a game-changer.”