Fall Quarterly Meeting

Increasing Fill Rates and Reducing Workload Through a Generational Design of Workforce Layers

Inequities between nursing workforce supply and demand continue to challenge nurse executives in creating the vision for a post-pandemic nursing workforce. Health systems' workforce redesign strategies must prioritize the changing needs of the multigenerational workforce to maximize the available supply of nurses willing to remain in the workforce. In this session, Betty Jo Rocchio will share a flexible workforce framework, aimed to meet the needs of the multigenerational workforce, which in a test resulted in increased fill rates and decreased costs of labor.

Betty Jo Rocchio, DNP, RN, CRNA, CENP, EBP-C

Betty Jo Rocchio is Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Mercy, one of the 25 largest health systems in the U.S., with 44 hospitals and more than 10,000 nurses who serve millions of patients across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Previously, she held Mercy's chief nursing optimization officer role and before that served as vice president of perioperative services. Prior to joining Mercy, Betty Jo held several leadership positions in the Mount Carmel Health System in Columbus, Ohio. These included chief nurse anesthetist, system director of surgical services, and vice president of nursing and chief nursing officer. She started her career in direct patient care as a registered nurse (RN) in the intensive care unit; returned to school to become a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) and at the same time earned her master’s degree in health sciences at LaRoche College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing and an associate's degree in business administration from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Steubenville, Ohio, a certification in executive nurse practice (CENP) from American Organization for Nursing Leadership, and a doctorate in nursing practice (DNP) in the nurse executive track from The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

Building a Workforce Strategy with Flexibility

Gone are the days of “this is how we have tackled this problem before.” In today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous healthcare environment, nurse leaders have an imperative to build the nursing workforce for tomorrow. This session will discuss the current nursing workforce landscape and provide practical examples of how to build flexibility, agility, and mobility into workforce strategy.

Andrew Thum, DNP, ML, RN, NE-BC

Andrew Thum is the Director of Nursing Workforce Operations at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia, PA where he leads centralized nurse staffing programs and drives health system workforce alignment across Jefferson hospitals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He is also responsible for the operations and development of the health system’s flexible RN resource – the S.E.A.L. team. Prior to this role, he was the nurse manager of medical-surgical unit at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital where he collaborated with an interdisciplinary team to lead the unit’s nursing care and new initiatives as leader of the hospital’s “Innovation Unit.” Andrew obtained a doctor of nursing practice degree concentrating in executive leadership at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned a master’s degree in health law from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from La Salle University in Philadelphia.

Returning to a Blended Care Model

Workforce challenges have been pervasive in healthcare organizations across the region since the COVID-19 pandemic began. This session will share how one local community hospital piloted a program returning LPNs into acute care on one medical/surgical unit. Kelly Harmon and Joanna Vallie will share their plan and lessons learned from this pilot.

Kelly Harmon, MBA, BSN, RN, NEA-BC

Kelly has over 23 years of nursing experience with 15 plus years of nursing and hospital leadership. Currently, she is the Associate Chief Nursing Officer at Emerson Hospital. Previously, she worked as an Executive Healthcare Operations Consultant for Commonwealth Medicine on an interim assignment as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children in Canton, MA and was the ACNO of acute care nursing at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, MA. Kelly has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The University of New Hampshire and a Master of Business Administration from Suffolk University.

Joanna Vallie, Ed.D, MSN, RN

Joanna’s nursing career spans 30 years, with 20 years spent in nursing leadership in community hospitals. She is currently the Nursing Director for Professional Development at Emerson Hospital, where she leads the orientation and professional development for nurses across the organization. Joanna has a strong clinical background in obstetrical nursing and has successfully led two healthcare organizations to achieve Baby Friendly Designation. Her passion is new graduate nurses and their successful transition to practice. She completed her undergraduate studies at Rivier University, her Masters in Nursing Administration from Vanderbilt University, and her Ed.D in Nursing Education from Western Connecticut State University.