Recommended Citation
Rashleger L, Lemke J, Rosenberger C, Lazzari S. Alleviating Leader Burden: A Manager Relief Program for Vacancy Support. Presented at the Annual AONL Conference; March 31, 2025; Boston, MA.
Presentation Notes
Presented at the Annual AONL Conference; March 31, 2025; Boston, MA.
Abstract
The results of an organizational leadership survey in 2021 revealed burnout in managers. The impact of manager vacancies results in a leadership vacuum which strains resources, creates turnover, and increases costs. Leaders drive outcomes in safety, quality, patient and employee satisfaction. This resulted in the creation of a budget neutral nurse leadership relief program as a three-tiered approach which creates a development path for the leader, shares best practices throughout the organization, and supports the hospital site. To date, the program has supported 23 different site departments with five being manager vacancies without resulting in covering leader burnout revealing great practical takeaways. There were strong positive ratings on the effectiveness of the relief manager model from department staff and executive leaders. Initiated in 2022 as a result of the leadership needs assessment, the program entered its pilot stage successfully. The compatibility between the interim leader and the host site was evident, leading to the decision for the leader to continue in the role, providing a pathway for development in a permanent capacity. Standard tools included the creation of a playbook, dashboards, surveys for site leaders and teammates, and resources. Additional program deliverables resulted in an enterprise-wide competency onboarding checklist and interim leader toolkit. The demand for relief nursing leaders was so strong that there were not enough leaders to meet the demand. Therefore, a supervisor relief branch was created. This model is a branch of this program which provides relief and succession paths for manager roles with front-line nurses. In 2022, there were 182 manager openings which was reduced to 144 in 2023 resulting in an improvement of 38 manager positions. Of the 23 departments supported, five departments that managers assumed revealed favorable outcomes. 5/5 departments have seen improvements in vacancies, turnover, agency utilization, and positive subjective feedback in access to leadership, staffing concerns, and overall well-being of the department. With a strong focus on stabilization of the workforce, a total of 24 nurses that would have been agency and were hired internally instead. This resulted in a $2,949,148.80 in cost avoidance annualized based on an average midpoint of $44.90/hour and 0.9 FTE. Teammate post-surveys showed positive results, with the greatest improvements in access to leadership, staffing, and well-being. Quality, safety, and shared governance were also strengthened. Executive leadership yielded excellent survey results for all areas. The program creates development and succession pipeline for leaders through stretch assignments and networking. The relief leaders build their resume with each assignment to strengthen their leadership skills and outcome portfolio. These skills will support preparation for future roles as well as stabilize, maintain, and enhance the current department. The program helps sustain the site without causing leader burnout, which offered valuable insights. Department staff and executive leaders gave highly positive feedback on the effectiveness of the relief manager model. Post assignment, the relief manager assumes a mentoring role for the newly hired leader.The Relief Manager program alleviates covering leader burnout and revealed great practical takeaways. There were strong positive ratings on the effectiveness of the relief manager model from department staff and executive leaders. Key lessons learned include having dedicated and involved executive leadership, regular department rounds with staff, willingness to find and address opportunities, using systematic tools, resources and outcomes tracking. Essential relief leader traits are driving engagement, empowering teams, achieving results, and transformational leadership. Future directions include a strong interest in expanding to other organizational regions and settings outside of acute care.
Document Type
Oral/Podium Presentation