1. Staff Recruitment & Retention in the Operating Room
Team Members:
Jo Quetsch
Meg Kim

2. Opportunity Statement
Historically Loyola’s Operating Room has experienced prolonged vacancies, resulting in an average agency utilization of 9.2 FTE. Staff surveys indicated that trust had been negatively impacted by several leadership changes.
The purpose of this project was to create a culture of responsiveness to staff that would reduce OR staff turnover rate and agency utilization.

3. Most Likely Causes for Staff Turnover Rates
Limited manager/supervisor availability to staff
Inconsistent communication
Inflexible scheduling and on-call sign up process
Limited staff involvement in decision-making
Lack of recognition

4. Retention Initiatives Implemented
Manager availability
Moved office location to inside the OR
Internal communication
Monthly meetings
access
Additional Supervision
Improve work flow & staff accountability
Assistant Nurse Manager - evenings
SST-1 Supervisor -days
Staff involvement in Loyola committees:
RN Recruitment & Retention
Employee Information Exchange
Hospital Products Committee
Staff involvement in OR committees:
Scheduling
Quality
OR Recruitment & Retention

5. Retention Initiatives Implemented
Recognition of Magis behaviors
Individuals acknowledged at staff meetings
Quarterly letters sent to staff regarding good attendance and timeliness
Recognition thank you notes
Department celebrations
On-call scheduling
New process managed by staff
Off shift bonus contracts
Exit interviews by the Manager or Human Resources

6. Recruitment Initiatives Implemented
Partnership with Human Resources
Monthly meetings with HR
Surgical services recruitment brochure
Monitor average days to fill positions
Focused recruitment of experienced staff:
Referral bonus
Flexible work schedules
Loyola student nurse lunches
Orientation Improvements:
Peers meet new staff for lunch on HR orientation day
Streamlined orientation process
Created feedback loop for new staff

7. 2004 Loyola OR staffing statistics are better than national averages
OR Measure
Loyola 2004
National 2004
OR Manager, 2004
Vacancy rate 3%
10.1%
Average # open positions
2.29 FTE
4.5 FTE
Average # days to fill positions
61 days
86.1 days
Agency use - % of total FTE 1%
7.7%

8. Agency staffing has decreased significantly
OR Staffing
Agency FTE
UCL = 11.49
UCL = 10.36 10
Mean = 8.5
Mean = 9.2 8
LCL = 6.83
Agency FTE
LCL = 6.68 6
Project
Started 4 2
Jun 03
Jul 03
Aug 03
Sep 03
Oct 03
Nov 03
Dec 03
Jan 04
Feb 04
Mar 04
Apr 04
May 04
Jun 04
Jul 04
Aug 04
Sep 04
Oct 04
Nov 04
Dec 04
Jan 05
Feb 05

9. Actual OR FTE’s have increased by 7.1 FTE
Actual FTE
OR Staffing
Jun 03
Jul 03
Aug 03
Sep 03
Oct 03
Nov 03
Dec 03
Jan 04
Feb 04
Mar 04
Apr 04
May 04
Jun 04
Jul 04
Aug 04
Sep 04
Oct 04
Nov 04
Dec 04
Jan 05
Feb 05 65 70 75 80 85
UCL = 83.26
Mean = 74.5
LCL = 65.70
UCL = 86.89
Mean = 81.6
LCL = 76.38
Project
Started

10. OR staff turnover rate has decreased by 2.2%

11. Next Steps Create a clinical ladder program for Scrub techs
Implement formal preceptor training for OR staff
Staff participation in interview process of new staff
Revitalize buddy/mentor system for new employees
Continue cross generational and conflict resolution training for staff