Episode Transcript
Alan Helgeson:
“Reimagining Rural Health,” a podcast series brought to you by Sanford Health. In this series, we explore the challenges facing health care systems across the country from improving access to equitable care, building a sustainable workforce, and discovering innovative ways to deliver high-quality, low-cost services in rural and underserved populations. Each episode examines how Sanford Health and other health systems are advancing care for the unique communities they serve.
Today’s topic is a conversation on nursing with discussion on shared governance, nursing senate, and Magnet designation. Our guest is Wendy Kopp, Sanford Bismarck vice president of nursing. Our host is Erica DeBoer, Sanford Health chief nursing officer.
Erica DeBoer (host):
As part of this podcast, we’re really trying to highlight the essence of nursing excellence, and what a perfect time to be able to do that as the team has just celebrated their fourth Magnet designation. From your perspective, Wendy, I’m curious, tell me a little bit more about what this achievement for fourth designation means to your teams.
Wendy Kopp (guest):
So the achievement for the fourth designation is pretty incredible. You can look at statistics. So less than 2% of health care organizations in our country have achieved four Magnet designations, and so that’s pretty incredible. It really puts us in with an elite group of health care organizations.
Erica DeBoer:
So shared governance is an important part of our culture across Sanford, but more importantly at Bismarck. Could you explain what shared governance is and how it empowers nurses in shaping practice and policy changes?
Wendy Kopp:
Absolutely, Erica. Shared governance in Bismarck, I’m super proud of. We have a very strong shared governance structure, and when you think about what does shared governance mean in its essence, it’s really like autonomy and shared decision making. And so it’s really a framework and it’s a collaborative approach where our front-line nurses participate in their decision making on practice issues and policies. And so it’s really coming to the table and being present in those conversations that directly impact the work that they do.
Erica DeBoer:
And their energy is amazing. I love spending time with your senators, Wendy. You’ve done a great job leading that team. Tell me a little bit about a couple examples that have impacted nursing practice that have come through that shared governance structure.
Wendy Kopp:
Every year the list just gets bigger and bigger. I think some of the things probably that the senators would say they’re most proud of, that they’ve had a hand in, are probably developing our ICU nurse consult. That has been an incredibly successful initiative, the code blue debriefing. So that also came forward and really we’re implementing now, we’ve had huge success and we’re putting that across even more disciplines and specialty areas looking at in that NICU and OB space. So that really is a perfect example of what coming to the table and voicing your practice needs and concerns.
Charge nurse training and onboarding is another really great example of nurses coming to the table and really kind of sharing what their needs are and where the gaps are and what they feel needs to change.
Another one is point of care glucose testing, again, where we’re doing some pilots based on some things brought forward from senate.
And let’s see, another simple one would be just the need for more lactation spaces for our health care workers. And so we were able to give additional lactation spaces and get creative because they brought forward that need.
Erica DeBoer:
So what’s amazing about the examples that you gave, Wendy, is it highlights not only critical nursing practice pieces, but it also highlights the important health of your environment and making sure that they have that space to pump or really to make sure that there’s a safe space to debrief after a code blue.
I think as we navigate, and I’ve had a chance to talk with some of your ICU team, and they used evidence-based practice to actually support the information that they were gaining from our front-line teams. And to your point, they tested the science of it, they brought a collaborative group together and really met a need of – we don’t have as much experience with code blues or those urgent situations. How do we actually address that? And then how do we support our team? So I think the comprehensive approach that your teams are taking are just really impressive and actually addressing some of the needs of your front-line teams.
Wendy Kopp:
Absolutely. And one more thing, Erica, you reminded me when you talked about wellness, that’s another big initiative and a gap in what we were able to provide for our front-line workers. And they kept bringing the need on work-life integration and balance and needing a place to reset. And so we will be opening up before the new year our Zen Den, and that is an opportunity for our frontline workers to have a place for respite and to reset and rejuvenate. And so we’re really excited about that and that’s a testament to their voices coming to the table.
Erica DeBoer:
And I love the name Zen Den. I can almost smell the lavender. It’s amazing. I think it’s great. Tell me a little bit about the benefits of having your various councils and front-line representatives involved in that decision making.
Wendy Kopp:
Well, that’s quite an easy question. The benefit, it’s the patient. The patient is the one that benefits. When you think about our shared governance structure, and you look at our model, the patient is in the center of every decision that we make. And so when you think about where our shared governance, we call it our nursing senate, is that’s the next layer. And then all of our councils spoke out after that, if you think about it in a wheel fashion. And so it’s bi-directional. And so those councils report into the senate. The senate reports into the councils, and it’s just, I guess you wanna call it a beautiful marriage and how that works.
Erica DeBoer:
And it benefits so many more, not just our colleagues, but also the other people that are part of the collaborative team too. So that’s fantastic.
I wonder if we shift just a little bit to expertise and certification. I know I’m passionate about the role that certification plays in recognizing nursing expertise. How does it contribute to mentorship within the field?
Wendy Kopp:
Certification? Really, I mean, when you advance your knowledge and skills with certification, that mentorship just falls naturally because with certification you demonstrate that you have that advanced knowledge and skills. And so inherently that mentorship role just naturally or organically takes place.
Erica DeBoer:
I think that’s well said. What support does Sanford Health provide to nurses pursuing x certification and how does this support demonstrate a commitment to growth and advancement?
Wendy Kopp:
We definitely have that commitment to growth and advancement, and I think we’re really fortunate. Our learning and development center annually brings in, based on survey results, they bring in typical courses that are very, very popular or will be high users. So they bring those in, and those our nurses can take for free. Exam fees are covered, two attempts for an exam are covered, and then upon successful passing of that certification exam, there is also a bonus that goes along with it.
And so we feel that we do a great job not only initially supporting that, but then sustaining that we recognize our certification, our nurses that are certified annually, and it’s also additional support then for recertification.
Erica DeBoer:
It’s definitely something to be proud of. I know each of us as VPs of nursing and as a chief nursing officer, those are some of the things that I hold very close to heart because it’s really that expertise that’s really core to our commitment, not only to our patients, but to those around us to continue to learn and be that lifelong learner.
Wendy Kopp:
Absolutely.
Erica DeBoer:
Since we’re talking about certification, I wonder if you don’t have your own personal experience or a story of a nurse who benefited from the certification process and went on to become a mentor within the field.
Wendy Kopp:
I think of an example probably with certification process. As you recall, I mentioned the ICU nurse consult in a previous question. And so that particular nurse who brought it forward was certified and so based on advanced knowledge was able to kind of determine best practice. And so that was really a pretty cool moment to see that come to fruition based on that advanced knowledge.
And for myself, I can say for personally becoming certified in executive nursing practice, I want to be able to pay it forward and be able to continue mentoring our emerging leaders as well.
Erica DeBoer:
Yeah, and you do that extremely well, Wendy. When we shift to patient-centered practice, it’s really central to the focus. You’ve highlighted it already very well. How does Sanford Health ensure that all discussions, decisions and change revolve around optimizing patient care?
Wendy Kopp:
I think we could probably look at our differentiated practice model when we think of patient-centered care and the uniqueness that each of these specialties bring to the table. Erica, that was probably the easiest way to kind of summarize that.
Erica DeBoer:
Can you explain the role of evidence-based practice and how that’s important? Being at the forefront of all of our nursing endeavors?
Wendy Kopp:
I think having probably that problem solving approach and that decision making based on the evidence is really sort of ingrained in all of the work that we do. When we look at our professional practice model, research and evidence-based practice is a huge component of that. And so it’s really important to look at what are those influences, both internal and external, that influence our practice and affect our practice to really cause us to critically think about what changes should happen and then going to the evidence and research to help drive that change.
Erica DeBoer:
I think change is definitely a part of what all of us are trying to work on. And how do we do that with evidence-based practice in the forefront? I think you’ve got great examples of a really united and collaborative approach to your evidence-based practice group. It’s been amazing to see how it’s grown, not just in nursing, but also in some of your interdisciplinary teams through physical therapy and some of those last couple questions.
So when we think about the impact that happens through collaboration, how does fostering an open dialogue and knowledge exchange benefit nursing professionals, patients, our teams and the organization as a whole?
Wendy Kopp:
I know I keep going back to our professional practice model, but really interprofessional care and collaboration is another key component. And so when we think about our nursing senate, when we think about professional management, these are all councils and committees specific to Bismarck. Every one of those councils has an interprofessional or interprofessional members on there. We don’t make decisions in a silo. We collaborate and bring all of the entities to the table to really bring up the topics, the initiatives, the ideas, what are the opportunities, you know, how do we move forward again to make decisions that really will benefit not only the front-line workers, but also the patient.
Erica DeBoer:
I’m so excited that the team’s been able to celebrate their fourth Magnet designation. Speaking of collaboration, can you tell me how Magnet embeds that collaboration into that designation and that maturation over time?
Wendy Kopp:
Absolutely. And so I know we talk about Magnet being a nursing excellence award, and I always say, yes, it is. It is the foundation, but there is so much more to it. Not only one Magnet designation, but four designations is really a testament to the culture. We have been able to not only practice but sustain over the course of the years that we’ve been magnet designated. And so it’s the culture that really allows our teams to thrive. It’s all teams, our interdisciplinary teams, that culture again, where teams can have those conversations together, the good, the bad, and the ugly. And so again, just really hats off to all of the teams that allow great care to be given.
Erica DeBoer:
Absolutely. Something to be super proud of. That fourth designation in the MA maturation that you’ve seen, and I’d say even more importantly, you did that maturation, you did a lot of that work throughout the pandemic. And so important to recognize the challenges that came along with that.
Are there any particular innovations or practices that contributed to the remarkable achievement and how that’s influenced your organizational culture? You mentioned how important the culture is, how important the interdisciplinary team is. I’m just curious if there’s specific initiatives that help to drive that.
Wendy Kopp:
I don’t think I could probably list one initiative again, when you think about kind of the things that we focus on, it’s our quality, it’s our nurse, this nurse sensitive indicators. It’s really our patient experience and then it’s our nursing satisfaction. And so everything that we do touches each of those components in a very unique way. And so all of the exemplars have just have had a tremendous impact.
And we don’t do anything different the year that we go up for Magnet designation. We are that gold standard each and every day because of what we do and who we are. It’s not something we turn off and turn on just because we’re in our year or we’re up for re-designation. It’s really just who we are.
Erica DeBoer:
And it’s a magical culture that you’ve helped to create. Wendy, it’s been an absolute pleasure to speak with you today and share a little bit more about your shared governance structure as well as celebrate the Magnet journey with you. Anything else you’d add?
Wendy Kopp:
We want to reflect on Magnet. I think when patients come to Bismarck to receive care, they should know that they are going to receive some of the highest level of care in the nation. And again, we’re in with an elite group and we’re just extremely proud of who we are and what we’ve been able to accomplish as a rural health care organization.
Erica DeBoer:
I feel like Bismarck certainly emulates this in their daily practice in solving problems in the moment, no matter what might come your way. So congratulations and it’s great to have you.
Wendy Kopp:
Thanks, Erica. Thanks for having me.
Alan Helgeson:
You’ve been listening to “Reimagining Rural Health,” a podcast series brought to you by Sanford Health. Hear more episodes in this series or other Sanford Health series on Apple, Spotify, and news.sanfordhealth.org. For Sanford Health News, I’m Alan Helgeson, and thank you for listening.
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