A nurse wearing blue scrubs smiles confidently at the camera. She is alone, but there are doctors and nurses walking around in the clinical space behind her.

A revamp of the traditional nurse onboarding approach could help curb the nursing shortage, but the challenges each health system faces in onboarding are unique. SimpliFi meets those challenges with a customizable solution – the Confidence Accelerating Practice (CAP) program 

The CAP program helps health systems build their future nursing workforce while better retaining experienced RNs. It’s the overhaul that legacy nurse onboarding programs need, and it comes with ongoing coaching for preceptors and support for all participants. 

With legacy onboarding programs, preceptors often add training onto their full patient load instead of being able to focus on transforming new RNs into competent and confident healthcare professionals. At the same time, new RNs feel like a burden to an overworked preceptor instead of valuable team members. CAP is structured to resolve these issues.

“CAP allowed for individualized, focused attention to the early development of the new nurse,” said one nursing leader who had CAP implemented into her unit. “It also engaged the preceptors to a different level.” 

“I feel the new nurses were better prepared and more confident upon completion than they would be with the old onboarding approach,” said a CAP preceptor. “I was able to spend more time teaching and mentoring than trying just to manage an assignment.” 

Where its foundation is firmly built on providing ongoing expert consultation, the elements of the CAP program aren’t set in stone. They are entirely customizable based on a health system’s desired outcomes. 

“We focus on the facility’s goals and how to reach them,” said SimpliFi’s Senior Clinical Director Dawne Southworth, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN. “Some facilities call for more assistance than others, and we meet them at the service level they need.” 

“From the length of the program to the content covered in the preceptor curriculum, the CAP program is individualized to the goals of that specific facility,” said SimpliFi’s Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer Bambi Gore, MSN, FNP-BC. 

SimpliFi’s clinical directors structure a customized solution after a discovery meeting with clinical leaders as they work to understand every facet of the facility and unit where CAP will be launched. 

“Information collected consists of HCAHPS, performance improvement initiatives, and the client’s goals,” Gore said. “That information is used to develop all materials and recommendations.” 

SimpliFi builds those requirements into the facility’s program and begins recruiting preceptors. Our clinical directors interview, vet, and train preceptor candidates and communicate with the facility about each preceptor identified. 

Once the CAP program begins, SimpliFi keeps the flow of communication going through regular progress meetings with nursing leaders and assistance for preceptors. Results show that the CAP program, along with its ongoing consultation and attention to detail, can make a significant impact in a health system. 

New nurse confidence scores increased by more than 20%, and retention was at 100% in a facility that recently implemented CAP. An independent study in another facility showed that CAP increased nurse retention rates by 20%. 

“Once we get there, nurse managers and educators see the program’s value and love it,” Southworth said. “It’s rewarding to see that happen. We’re helping new nurses enter the workforce safely.” 

The core focus of the CAP program is to enable health systems to build their nursing workforce while better retaining experienced RNs. The specifications on how to achieve that goal through CAP can be shaped and molded to fit each health system or hospital association. Contact us to see how SimpliFi’s CAP program can enhance your nurse onboarding approach.