Partnership helps prepare new nurses to fill retirees’ shoes

As baby boomer nurses retire, they take with them decades of experience not easily replaced. In anticipation of this workforce challenge, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance partnered with an academic center to prepare the next generation of nurses with some of the skills they will need before they arrive on the job. The partners created a dedicated educational unit (DEU) where senior nursing students perform clinical rotations in an ambulatory oncology setting. Although the program created additional work for staff nurses, they saw the benefits of investing in students’ education as new graduates joined their ranks. In response to student requests, the Alliance also created a nurse residency program. (HealthLeaders Media story, 8/23/19)