These slides were presented at the May 2023 meeting of the KC Digital Drive Health Innovation Team. First, we will learn about needs facing nursing and the healthcare system overall and the digital solutions to help solve them. The nursing profession is facing a multi-layered crisis - both at a national level and a local level - that will require bold ideas and broad collaboration to solve. We will join Dr. Amy Garcia and Dr. Heather Nelson-Brantley of the School of Nursing to cover some of these challenges and to discuss how digital solutions can be deployed to help solve the problems. Amy Garcia, DNP, MSN, RN, FAAN, is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of Practice at the School of Nursing department of Innovation and Practice. She has expertise in leadership, health policy and informatics. A view of her professional biography is available here. Heather Nelson-Brantley, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, is Assistant Professor and Program Director, Leadership at the School of Nursing. She is an associate member of the KU Cancer Center. Her nursing practice includes medical and pulmonary critical care and cardiothoracic surgery progressive care. A fuller biography is available here.

1. Kansas Nursing Leadership &
Workforce Center
Applying Technology
to Find Solutions
to Nursing Workforce
Problems

2. Dr. Amy Garcia

3. TECHNOLOGY MEETS COLLABORATION

4. THANK YOU! VIRTUAL SIMULATION PARTNERSHIP

5. A NATIONAL UNSUSTAINABLE TRAJECTORY
275,000
More nurses needed by
2030
1/5
Nurses expect to retire by
2025
87%
Reported burnout in the
last year
25%
Considering leaving the
profession

6. STAGGERING KANSAS STATISTICS
22%
KS RN turnover rate
(the highest in the last ten years)
53,000+
Projected KS nurse openings through
2026 (CNA, RN, Home Health Aid)
84
Number of KS Critical Access
Hospitals
(the most in the U.S.)
30%
Number of rural KS hospitals at risk of
closure

7. CURRENT NURSING WORKFORCE CENTERS

8. STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS – We are listening!
• Goal: Spark collaborative discussions to solve nursing
workforce issues in Kansas
• Stakeholders: Government, Employers, Industry,
Associations, Education/University
• Representing: rural and urban

9. • We cannot simply educate our way out of this shortage
• We need better use of technology in
o The pipeline
o The classroom
o The practice environment
o Nursing practice
o Decision support for policy
WORKFORCE CENTERS AGREE

10. Dr. Michelle Cochran

11. Local is global! Applying technology principles to build and sustain
Local/State/Regional relationships
• Virtual Classroom Exchange
• Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) - Midwifery
• Student interviews with partner faculty
• International faculty presentations to students
• Virtual Clinical Electives and Practicums (partnered with CFHI)
o Nursing, Medical Students, and Medical Residents
• Annual Roundtable
INTERNATIONAL NURSING COLLABORATION

12. Leveraging technology for international collaboration prepares
students to reduce disparities in health and care.
• Enables real time collaboration, despite different geographical locations
• Reduced costs; access to larger numbers of participants
• Leverage cognitive energy; allowing for innovation
• Develop heterogeneous/diverse perspectives
• Allows access to additional partners in the institution to join as needed
with relative ease, adding to the collective intelligence
BENEFITS–AND IMPORTANCE–OF TECHNOLOGY

13. • The virtual platform is a third space
allowing for an inclusive, diverse
environment without hierarchy.
• Both students and faculty emphasized the
sense of shared human experience as
significant to knowledge and
informational exchange.
• Collective intelligence with collegial
camaraderie.
• As team members interact, geographical
distance is minimized.
MAIN TAKE-AWAYS
Student: "It is one thing to learn about other countries in a
textbook, but it adds another layer to hear about from a
perspective of a lived experience.“

14. Dr. Laura Klenke-Borgmann

15. • High fidelity, interprofessional
simulation provides valuable clinical
experiences
• Ensures equity
LEVERAGING SIMULATION SOLUTIONS

16. KANSANS NEED BETTER NURSING DECISION
SUPPORT
• Integrate disparate data about supply & demand
• Near real-time, interactive dashboards
o Nursing education
o Employer needs
o Community needs
o Nurse demographics
o Projections
• One-stop shop for data, information, resources, and
collaboration creates system-level supports for:
o Nurses
o Policy makers at every level
o Researchers
Examples from New Jersey and
Maryland nursing workforce centers

17. The Kansas Nursing Leadership&
Workforce Center
WILL you join us?
nursingwill@kumc.edu