present the award to Trinitas Hospital
during a ceremony that will be held at The Westin Princeton
Forrestal Village on October 18th.
“We are proud and honored to receive this prestigious
recognition from such a prominent and respected organization
as the NJBIA,” stated Gary S. Horan FACHE, President
& Chief Executive Officer of Trinitas Hospital.
He added, “By focusing on our employees in this
manner, we are able to raise patient satisfaction and
enhance the overall level of care we provide for our
community. This award is further validation that Trinitas
is indeed an employer of choice not only among hospitals,
but among all organizations in New Jersey.”
“On behalf of everyone at NJBIA, I offer my heartiest
congratulations to Trinitas Hospital for their 2005
Award for Excellence,” NJBIA President Philip
Kirschner said. “Their unique television and direct
mail campaign makes stars out of the people who are
so very important—the nurses who care for us when
we are ill. Certainly, you have earned the title Outstanding
Employer.”
“On an ongoing basis, Trinitas continues to improve
its culture by focusing on the way things are done,
the way people treat each other, our values and what
we emphasize as being important within our organization,”
explained Glenn Nacion, Vice President of Human Resources
at Trinitas. He added, “As a result, a new “Spirit
of Care” has emerged, which has improved recruitment
and retention, increased efficiency, effectiveness and
operating margins. Employees experience less stress,
greater job fulfillment and there is greater efficiency
in customer service and the overall work environment
has improved.”
As a recently-merged organization, Trinitas Hospital
has had to be especially cognizant of the distinct cultures
of two hospitals, while at the same time developing
a new and unique workplace environment. Trinitas Hospital
was established in January 2000, following the merger
of Elizabeth General Medical Center and St. Elizabeth
Hospital. A total of 2,416 people are employed by Trinitas.
A key challenge facing Trinitas, and indeed all hospitals,
is the recruitment and retention of nurses and other
professional staff. Recent initiatives included salary
adjustments, implementation of popular 12-hour shifts,
professional support programs, enhanced communications
vehicles and a broad range of reward and recognition
programs. “To publicize this positive work environment
and focus on recruitment of new nurses, our Human Resources
and Public Relations departments developed a series
of cable television commercials that aired throughout
the region,” Nacion explained that these spots
featured seven nurses who discussed the advantages of
being a nurse at Trinitas Hospital. “Using our
own nurses – not actors – proved to have
a double benefit. “It was a big morale boost to
our staff, and it conveyed a real sense of family to
our community,” Nacion said. The television spots
were accompanied by a direct mail brochure to nurses
throughout the region, and a companion website. “One
unexpected benefit came about when patients began asking
to be cared for by the nurses they saw on television,”
Nacion added.
Newly employed nurses at Trinitas are supported through
such programs as a preceptor initiative which pairs
them with experienced nurses who take them under their
wing until they feel comfortable in their new environment.
Other programs include on-going education, and for recent
graduates, a 12-week “bridge” program that
eases the transition from the classroom to the patient
care setting.
A comprehensive 10-week “extern” program
provides hands-on experience to nursing students from
both the Trinitas School of Nursing and nursing schools
throughout the region.
Trinitas, in conjunction with the College of Saint
Elizabeth, recently started offering its nurses the
opportunity to pursue Bachelors and Masters Degrees
in Nursing at a 50 percent tuition discount.
“Support is a crucial element that helps all
employees do their jobs better, and also results in
increased job satisfaction and patient satisfaction,”
Nacion said.
These features were responsible for the hospital’s
success in hiring 136 nurses in 2004, compared with
84 nurses hired in 2003. Further, the turnover rate
for registered nurses decreased from 13.2 percent in
2003 to 8.8 percent in 2004. The average turnover rate
among New Jersey hospitals is 13.8 percent. The average
vacancy rate for New Jersey hospitals is 15.8 percent,
while at Trinitas the vacancy rate is just 7.2 percent.
This low vacancy rate has allowed Trinitas to reduce
its reliance on agency nurses, resulting in a savings
of over $1 million last year.
A second key element in a successful work environment
is reward and recognition. Many vehicles are in place
at Trinitas to help recognize outstanding employees,
including the J.C. Kellogg Awards program that awards
$5,000 each to four top employees each year. A similar
program recognizes and rewards top managers at the hospital.
Employees throughout the hospital are recognized during
special professional celebrations such as Nurses Week
and National Hospital Week, and an “Employee of
the Month” program recognizes staff for taking
extra steps to assist patients, visitors and co-workers.
“In busy organizations such as a hospital, communications
can often be overlooked, however at Trinitas we feel
that informing our staff of organizational issues goes
a long way toward increased employee satisfaction,”
Nacion stated. Staff meet regularly with the President,
and are encouraged to ask questions in a no-holds-barred
format. Questions typically range from parking and food
issues to queries about the long-range goals of the
organization.
This type of information is also provided to staff
regularly, through publications including an internal
newsletter called, “The Inside Scoop.” “At
all times we maintain an open door policy, whereby any
employee can feel free to approach any member of management
– including the President – on issues which
they feel are important,” Nacion said.
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