Marci Bradley
Clinical Nursing Director, UPMC Hamot, USA
Title: Innovative Succession Planning: Immersion, Enculturation, and Social Capital
Biography:
Marci Bradley is a Clinical Nursing Director at UPMC Hamot. She has been with UPMC Hamot for 36 years in a variety of roles and is the key driver and mentor for a successful Nurse Leader Residency Program. Marci is a published author and has presented in a number of venues. Marci is responsible for achieving quality patient outcomes in ten large Med-Surg units and has led numerous successful quality initiatives. She received her BSN at Edinboro University, her MSN at Gannon University and is Nurse Executive Board Certified since 2013.
Abstract:
The need for proper succession planning has never been more urgent. Data suggests that over 75% of current nurse leaders will leave the workforce within the next 5 years generating more than 67,000 leadership vacancies. This energizing session outlines a mature 3-month nurse leader residency (NLR) which demonstrates many of the best efforts described in the nursing literature, but the overall success is attributed to constructs associated with the discipline of Sociology.
The program was designed for staff nurses with leadership aspirations who could apply for two NLR positions on a biannual basis. The bedside nurses joined the nursing executive team full-time to participate in all organizational leadership activities, partnering with the CNO, nurse executives, and nursing directors. The program structure was also holistic in nature providing a dedicated mentor, didactic content, shadowing, journaling and completion of a project.
Social learning theory states that people learn by watching what others do and imitating behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions. Immersion into varying roles and responsibilities provides opportunity for social learning, networking, and role observation. In the setting of nursing leadership succession planning, there is significant value in establishing relationships between emerging leaders and seasoned leaders to support observation and imitation. Sociologists identify that those relationships culminate in bonds that are identified as social capital.
There are now numerous applicants for the residency and multiple candidates for any leadership vacancies. The program has become a powerful tool for succession planning in this organization.