GOAL

Develop models for the creation of technology-enhanced practice environments to improve nursing efficiency and effectiveness

The Workforce Commission was formed to develop strategies for dealing with the nursing shortage with the unique perspective of reducing the demand on nurses' time. Established in 2000, the Commission’s work focuses on:

• Identifying practice environment changes that will enable nursing to improve patient outcomes.
• Developing and deploying a model for workflow process analysis as the first step for creating future practice environments.
• Finding better ways to use medical technologies including Health Information Technology, so that health care organizations make the most efficient use of nurses’ time.
• Recommending principles for designing technology and devices to complement and enable the work of the nurse, presenting no impediments or additional work. To this end, the Commission works closely with technology manufacturers, educators, clinicians and researchers.
• Building up the faculties at America’s nursing schools to ensure there are enough knowledgeable, experienced educators to prepare the next generation of nurses for frontline work including preparing them to work with the current and evolving Health IT.

Key Initiative

Technology Targets

A major component of “Technology Targets” is a process called Technology Drill Down (TD2), which represents an opportunity to develop an improved process for identifying technological solutions to medical/surgical unit workflow inefficiencies. Twenty-five hospitals and health care systems participated as a TD2 site between March of 2006 and May of 2007. All of the sites found the process beneficial in identifying workflow issues and areas most ripe for technological fixes as well as process improvements.

• Map of TD2 Participating Hospitals
• TD2 DVD
• Technology Drill Down Facilitators Manual
• Fall 2008 Article – Linda Burnes Bolton, Carole Gassert, Pam Cipriano, “Smart Technology, Enduring Solutions: Technology Solutions Making Nursing Care Safer and More Efficient” Journal of Healthcare Information Management

Commission Members (click here to view a list of Commission members)

History
Formed in 2000, the Workforce Commission has had an important and innovative voice in the formation of strategies to address the nursing shortage.