Development of Nurse Educator Role to Improve Nurse Education and Promote Nurse Retention

Background: It requires vast amounts of education and clinical skills to be a successful BMT nurse. With the expansion of the BMT program, the inpatient BMT unit has experienced rapid growth requiring an increase of nursing staff by 30% in 2012. Intervention: To help improve the education level of all RN staff, on-board new nursing staff, and improve retention, the facility leadership created a BMT Nursing Education Specialist role. The Education Specialist serves as a role model, consultant, change agent and facilitator in assessing learning needs and in planning, implementing, and evaluating educational activities for new hires as well as current staff. Many new education programs were implemented by the Education Specialist. The BMT Clinical Curriculum was created to educate on the complex treatments and nursing care required for this patient population. The new hire orientation program was revised. All new hires are given custom orientation binders that include unit checklists, annual and unit specific competencies, a resource manual, and an individualized orientation map created specifically for their experience and skill level. All new hires meet weekly with the Education Specialist to evaluate progress and develop goals for the remainder of orientation. In addition, the Education Specialist works diligently to promote education for current nursing staff. Unit specific continuing education bulletin boards, Hot Topic newsletters, a unit specific competency fair, monthly staff skill improvement lab, and one-on-one individualized education is provided. Outcome: Twenty eight RN’s have been hired in 2012 with ten open positions remaining. New hire RN’s report that their custom orientation, one on one support from the BMT Educator, and educational programs helped with the transition into the complex BMT unit. The Education Specialist has been able to bridge the gap for a multitude of RN’s with varying experience levels to be successful BMT RN's.