Bill Klaproth (Host): This podcast is brought to you by Laerdal Medical. Laerdal Medical is a world leader in healthcare education and resuscitation training. We empower lifesavers and healthcare workers to help them save more lives. To learn more visit Laerdal, that's L-A-E-R-D-A-L, laerdal.com.

And this is a special episode of Today in Nursing Leadership, a podcast from the American Organization for Nursing Leadership. As we record live from the AONL 2024 Conference. I'm Bill Klaproth, as we talk about driving innovation in nursing, harnessing technology for better patient care. With me is Dr. Brian Bjoern, the Patient Safety Manager at Laerdal Medical. Brian, welcome.

Brian Bjoern: Thank you, Bill. Excited to be here.

Host: Yeah, excited to talk to you for sure. So first of all, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Brian Bjoern: Sure. So, I've dedicated my career to the intersection of clinical practice, public health, and quality improvement. I got interested in patient safety when I was still in medical school and entered a public health residency program afterwards, because I'm really interested in how can we understand healthcare at a system level to drive better patient outcomes. And I've been privileged enough over the years to work in various clinical settings, various health systems, even across various countries. And one thing that's really interesting to me is that despite all the differences in how we organize and finance healthcare, some of the problems really fundamentally are very similar when you start getting to the root cause level. And two problems that I think face healthcare organizations across the globe, at least in high-income countries are workforce challenges and financial pressures. We have a population that is aging, so we need to deliver more healthcare to a sicker population. And at the same time, our workforce is also aging, and therefore we are looking at retirement in the years to come.

Host: Absolutely. So, you mentioned two of the big issues that we're facing, workforce issues and financial pressures. What are some of the other challenges that healthcare organizations are sharing with you?

Brian Bjoern: If I were to summarize it in just a words, I would say resource constraints. Hospitals are struggling with recruiting and retaining healthcare professionals. They're operating under very slim margins, and they're under pressure now to deliver on value-based payment models where they have to meet certain metrics for patient outcomes and patient experience.

Since the pandemic, one in five healthcare professionals has left healthcare. And just a couple of months ago, the ECRI Institute named transition to practice as their top patient safety concern for 2024. And these are problems that are really not the fault of any particular person, but we all have to figure out ways solve the problem, and the nurse leaders that are gathered here in New Orleans really are crucial to fixing that. And frankly, that's why we're excited about being here.

Host: It's a good spot to be, no question about that. So, you mentioned transition to practice. Why is transition to practice and nurse onboarding so important?

Brian Bjoern: The short answer is that it's the foundation for building a confident and competent healthcare workforce, and we need that if we're going to deliver on those patient outcomes. To add just a little bit more color to that, we know that a good onboarding program will help nurses feel well prepared and confident that they have the skills they need to take care of their patients, which is vital for patient safety and care quality. We know that programs help integrate nurses into the team so they can become a part of a coherent workforce. And we have good evidence, from the literature, from talking to partners in the industry, and from case reports that a good onboarding program will ultimately also reduce nurse turnover, which is a really big challenge right now. So, ultimately, I think it's a way to start this lifelong career development, professional development, and help nurses advance their careers.

Host: Nurse onboarding sounds like it's really crucial and important. Where does Laerdal come into this? How can a partnership with Laerdal address these challenges, onboarding and the other challenges we talked about?

Brian Bjoern: A very important component of what we do in these programs when we partner with hospitals and nurse leaders is that we focus on benchmarking and on capturing data that gives you actionable insights that will help you see who is at risk, who is doing well, who needs some more help. Everyone has an onboarding program and, to be completely honest, they vary in quality. Some are truly excellent and some are more about checking the box to say we did it.

So, a couple of the ways that working with Laerdal can help address the challenges we discussed are at the individual level for the individual nurse by getting feedback on how you're doing, where you are skills wise. That can set you up to be successful. And for the organization, that translates into reduced turnover. And the other thing, and this is something we're hearing from a lot of healthcare organizations right now, is that because there is such a turnover, nurse educators are really tied up almost exclusively in orientation and onboarding. So by partnering with Laerdal, you can free up some of those resources so that those nurse educators can also attend to more experienced nurses' educational needs.

Host: Okay. So, it sounds like Laerdal comes in, you said you do a lot of benchmarking and data evaluation, my word, of who you're working with. So then, can you tell us more of what a partnership looks like at the ground level when someone starts working with Laerdal?

Brian Bjoern: Sure. As you said, it starts with a conversation. We need to figure out exactly what are the needs that we are trying to help you meet. We think of ourselves as a resource multiplier that will help you get more out of your existing resources, your existing staff, your existing onboarding program. And the key here is that we come in and create some benchmarks, we provide you some performance data in the form of actionable insights, so you will know who is on the fast track here, who needs more help, and how can you pay more attention and give them the resources and support they need. We do that by offering really a full range of opportunities from validating your individual skills. You know, we can check if you can insert an NG tube correctly, all the way up through ever increasingly complex team-based in situ simulations of emergencies, deteriorating patients, full codes.

We bring everything on site for you as well. So, we bring whatever piece is needed in whichever combination, and be that content, curriculum, equipment including advanced patient simulators. We have people that we'll bring on site that know how to operate that and we also bring in facilitators that work with your clinical educators to make sure that this is a good experience. And then, at the end as I mentioned, we'll give you some feedback at the form of a progress report on where you're doing well and where is there some room for improvement.

Host: There's a lot that goes into that. You really have a lot of data points and things that you cover in your onboarding. So, what does success look like then in onboarding program?

Brian Bjoern: I think ultimately it's about being able to deliver the patient outcomes and the patient experience, so that's the long-term success. Again, we know that that's where good onboarding eventually will lead us. In the more short to midterm, your new nurses will have a better experience. They will tell you that they feel prepared to start their clinical work. And that will lead to a reduced turnover and to increased job satisfaction.

Host: Well, this has been really insightful, Brian. Thank you for stopping by our podcast booth here at AONL 2024. Any additional thoughts you want to add?

Brian Bjoern: Sure. I mean, the one question you didn't ask me was, you know, how is Laerdal qualified to do this? And I know we are at the end, so I will keep this brief, but Laerdal is a very mission-driven company, and we have a very ambitious goal of helping save one million lives every year by 2030. And we get there through partnerships. We have formed partnerships over the last 70 years in this field with organizations like AONL, the National League for Nursing, the American Heart Association, just to name a few. But as importantly, we are present in hundreds of nursing schools, medical schools, and hospitals across the country. So, we see the full spectrum from, you know, the learner who's entering school, first day of school, all the way up through seasoned clinicians and experienced healthcare leaders.

Host: I love it. Well, it's really interesting and it's clear the benefits that Laerdal brings to the table. Brian, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.

Brian Bjoern: Yeah, me too. Thanks for having me.

Host: You betcha. Once again, that is Dr. Brian Bjoern. And we thank Laerdal Medical for sponsoring this podcast. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the full podcast library at aonl.org for more topics just like this of interest to you. This is Today in Nursing Leadership. Thanks for listening.