TL10d

 

Visibility, Accessibility, and Communication TL10

 

Provide one example, with supporting evidence, of succession planning activities for the CNO role.

 

 

Example d: Succession-Planning Activities for CNO Role

At Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) St. Vincent Hot Springs (SVHS), the Assistant Chief Nursing Officer (ACNO) (role of CNO) is responsible for patient care delivery and nursing practice. To accomplish this, the ACNO is expected to:

  • Have a minimum of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree and a master’s degree in business, nursing, hospital administration, or another healthcare-related field
  • Improve value through optimizing clinical operations
  • Develop and enhance nursing leadership
  • Conveys CHI SVHS mission, vision, and values through action
  • Optimize quality, safety, and patient experience
  • Inform strategy around designing systems of care for clinical value (Evidence TL10d-1, CNO Job Description)

 

In early 2022, Teresa Lambert, MBA, BSN, RN, Vice President, Patient Care Services (VP PCS), ACNO (role of CNO), began CNO succession planning with Kaitlyn Atkins, MSN, RN, CPN, Clinical Director, Inpatient Units. This is documented on a Succession Planning/Growth and Career Development Tracking Form. (Evidence TL10d-2, Succession Planning – Growth and Career Development Tracking Form) Lambert and Atkins collaborated on these goals:

  • Build relationships with the inpatient nurse managers
  • Become more familiar with the rules and regulations around the inpatient acute care

 

Operational Responsibilities Outside Current Expertise
In 2022, Atkins stepped out of her current expertise of operational responsibilities and managed the Geriatric Psychiatric Unit services until a new nurse manager was hired. Lambert requested that Atkins perform this role to become familiar with the rules and regulations around the behavioral health unit.

 

As the interim operational leader, Atkins focused on building relationships with the inpatient managers by holding biweekly meetings with them and participating in quarterly off-campus lunches. Along with team building, Atkins emulated servant leadership by taking shifts to help staff the inpatient units through several months of minimal staffing.

 

Lastly, in 2022, Atkins collaborated with Lambert to comprise the FY2023 staffing grids for all inpatient units. Atkins developed staffing grids to ensure targets and productivity were met. A CNO needs to understand how to develop these staffing grids to have a financially successful organization. Atkins and Lambert met biweekly to discuss the goals outlined in 2022.

 

In January 2023, Lambert met with Atkins to discuss her future career plans and interest in moving into a VP PCS/CNO role. Lambert shared the CNO job description with Atkins. From the CNO job description, Lambert identified opportunities for Atkins to be more visible to the medical staff and other leaders inside and outside the organization. Lambert and Atkins collaborated to set these goals for Atkins succession planning:

  • Participate in meetings with VP PCS/CNO where strategy and future planning are discussed
  • Take steps to obtain certification
  • Build relationships with ancillary service and their leaders and the community
  • Participate as the primary lead for Medical-Surgical during the Joint Commission Survey
  • Standup new addiction unit

 

Relationship Building and Improving Leadership Knowledge
From April through July 2023, Atkins completed several succession planning activities and growth opportunities that aligned with the goals identified in the January 2023 meeting between Atkins and Lambert. Activities included:

  • Strategic meetings with physician leaders to discuss and plan nurse/physician rounding
  • Completed the Nurse Executive Board Certification (NE-BC) review course
  • Led the nurse surveyor for the organization’s successful triannual Joint Commission Survey
  • Involved in the completion, communication of the results, and feedback of the Hutrics Leader assessment for the inpatient units. Hutrics is a consultant for CHI to assist in hiring, promoting, and developing the right leaders who will be successful and loyal, take care of employees, and produce results for the organization. Atkins participated in a pilot study for CHI as the Medical-Surgical Inpatient Unit’s turnover rates were very high. The pilot assessed leaders by surveying the leaders themselves and their employees. Hutrics then gives feedback to the leaders on their strengths and opportunities to improve, along with tools to help them be successful. Atkins’s participation in the pilot revealed to her several tools to decrease turnover rates and to become a better leader. An example of a tool she was given was how to recognize employees the way they like to be recognized (in public, in private, etc.).
  • Represented nursing administration during the CommonSpirit Heath IT visit for the EPIC upgrade planned for in March 2025
  • Led her inpatient nursing managers through annual evaluations, along with setting the next year’s goals for the units
  • Developed new staffing grids and productivity targets for her inpatient units
  • Continued building relationships by being involved in the CHI shared governance strategic planning meeting, representing the Arkansas market. This meeting brings all CHI market hospital leaders together to review the nursing strategic plan for the year to review and set the annual nursing goals.

 

Community Partnership

In August 2023, Atkins was invited to represent CHI SVHS on the board of Habitat for Humanity, continuing to build strong working relationships in the hospital and the community. This allowed Atkins to convey the CHI SVHS mission, vision, and values through action.


The board reviews the finances, reviews and approves the applicants for housing requests, oversees educating applicants on how to own and properly care for a home, and approves the building of new homes. (Evidence TL10d-3, Habitat for Humanity Letter) This activity allows Atkins to build her relationships with the community. Strong relationships with the community are encouraged for the CHI SVHS CNO. These relationships are very important for the organization’s success.


Strategy and Organization Planning
In November and December 2023, Lambert and Atkins traveled to a Houston, Texas sister hospital, The Woodlands, to review their patient experience initiatives. This was part of a strategy for CHI SVHS to gather best practices from a hospital that does exemplary work in patient experience and bring this information back to the organization to implement best patient experience practices at CHI SVHS. This allowed Atkins to work towards the succession planning goal of participating in strategy and future organization planning. (Evidence TL10d-4, The Woodlands Visit Agenda)


Atkins finished up the year with continuing team building, leading the visit with patient experience consultant Karen Byrnes to look at bedside shift reports and multidisciplinary rounds and discuss patient experience initiatives. In alignment with Atkin’s and Lambert’s goal of participating in strategy meetings, Lambert assigned Atkins to this initiative with Byrnes to strategize how CHI SVHS could continue to build on the momentum of increasing the organization’s patient experience over the next year.


Byrnes witnessed how the teams carried out the above initiatives and gave feedback on ways to be even better. Atkins led the discussion with other leaders from hospitals within CHI to look at CHI SVHS processes that decreased the length of stay and increased admissions by 11 a.m.


One of the largest succession planning activities Atkins was involved in to prepare for the CNO role was the opening of the new addiction unit at CHI SVHS. As part of the unit opening, Atkins wrote a Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation (SBAR) to Douglas Ross, MD, FACHE, President of CHI SVHS and Chief Medical Officer for the SV Market, and Dalindra Henson, Human Resource Business Partner, advocating for new clinical positions. This was part of the strategy around designing systems of care for clinical value, as the CHI SVHS community needs assessment showed this as a top need in the community. Atkins led weekly meetings to discuss planning and opening the new addiction unit. Atkins collaborated with associates from Bradford Health, a contractor for providers, as there was already an addiction unit at one of the organization’s sister hospitals. This guidance was very helpful for the entire planning process. (Evidence TL10d-5, SBAR for Position Control)

 

Atkins’s succession planning for the CNO role has been very thorough with many opportunities to prepare and develop her to take the role of a CNO. Atkins will continue her succession planning and will be a great candidate for a CNO role in the future.