Colleagues,
Well, here we are – the beginning of a new year and the anticipation of a fresh start. I’ve never been one to make new year’s resolutions, but I often set goals and work toward them. In my mind, there’s a difference — a resolution is a firm declaration of something you plan to do or not do. Goals, on the other hand, require planning, effort and ambition and often involve timelines and milestones – much like our Magnet journey. It may be a matter of semantics or my personal view, but goals just feel better to me.
Before I go further, I’d like to thank all of you who braved the elements and came in early, stayed late or slept at the hospital to make sure all our patients are taken care of during this snowy weather. We truly appreciate your dedication.
Now, let me share my 2025 mantra – “Thrive in ’25.” For nursing, much of last year was focused on recovery, rebuilding and seeing our way through to a better place. My hope for the year ahead is more opportunities to be proactive, intentional, strategic and goal oriented. Instead of spending so much time putting out fires, I hope we can prevent them from starting in the first place. I am committed to working with our entire UAMS clinical team to move past “surviving” on to “thriving” (after the snow melts). Together let’s make 2025 a year of moving to the next level, striving for more and thriving as a team.
I look forward to sharing specific ideas about how we can accomplish this during my CNO Address at the end of February. We will always have opportunities to make improvements, but several people have told me they feel a positive shift in the work environment here at UAMS. Initial results from the November employee engagement survey will be available later this month, providing our leadership team with valuable insight into the areas we need to focus on for continued improvement.
I’d like to highlight several of the achievements of the past year related to our nursing workforce
- Implemented a phased RN compensation structure with competitive salaries for RNs at all experience levels
- Restored the CCA pipeline for new graduate RNs and onboarded 39 CCAs last month
- Recruited 23 contract/IHA nurses for full-time positions, including 11 in the past two months
- Received 71 applications for new grad RNs for Summer 2025
- Consistently maintained appropriate nurse-to-patient ratios
- Shifted to a net gain in turnover/recruitment of nurses
- Cared for more patients with additional open inpatient beds, expanded services and capacity
Most importantly, you have created a welcoming work environment where your nursing colleagues feel supported and valued. This is essential for continued success in these efforts. Please know you are making a big difference. Do you have ideas about how we can shift from surviving to thriving? Email UAMSStrong@uams.edu I’d love to hear them!
Next week, the College of Medicine will host representatives from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for a Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER) visit. During this Jan. 14-16 visit, all clinical areas (inpatient and ambulatory) where residents provide care are subject to walking rounds. The CLER team will assess patient safety, health care quality, teaming, supervision, well-being, and professionalism, and you can participate by sharing with the site visit team how you work with and engage residents in patient care. The visit will also include brief interviews with patients in their hospital rooms and nurse interviews about patient interactions. Please welcome our ACGME visitors and answer their questions openly and honestly.
I’m looking forward to a great 2025 and sharing details about our plans at next month’s CNO Address. Please attend if you’re able. I’d also love to see you at an upcoming “Talk with Tammy” session. I hope you will sign up to join me at 7 a.m. on Jan. 30 or May 15 or 11 a.m. on March 13.
Stay safe and stay warm!
Tammy Jones, PHD, RN, NE-BC
Chief Nursing Officer
Associate Vice Chancellor for Patient Care Services & Clinical Operations
Perioperative, Interventional & Imaging Services Division