New Initiative Promotes Professional Development of Assistant Nurse Managers

Throughout northeast Ohio, the Cleveland Clinic healthcare system has more than 350 assistant nurse managers (ANMs) on inpatient units. “The ANM is typically the first formal leadership position for our nurses, and we want to give them the tools they need to succeed,” says Mary Jo Krivanek, DNP, MPA, RN, education manager in the Office of Nursing Education & Professional Development.

In early 2019, nursing leaders and human resources partnered to hold focus groups with ANMs to accomplish the following:

• Discover, clarify and record themes regarding the challenges facing assistant nurse managers.
• Identify what ANMs need to be successful, fully engaged and better equipped to perform their role.
• Use the feedback to address challenges and improve engagement.

More than 150 ANMs participated in 15 sessions held at four Cleveland Clinic hospitals. “Through the focus groups, we discovered that the ANM role really wasn’t functioning to its full capacity and serving as a stepping stone position to develop nurses into larger leadership roles,” says Jill Prendergast, PHR, senior human resource director for the Zielony Nursing Institute.

After reviewing the feedback, the Nursing Institute created five working groups to better support the ANM position and create bench strength around the role.

Five working groups bolster the ANM position

The working groups, which are each spearheaded by a chief nursing officer or assistant chief nursing officer, are as follows:

Standardized Orientation – “This group is taking a look at our orientation content and process for ANMs,” says Prendergast. “How can orientation be a seamless process that leads to ongoing development?” Among the tasks the group is tackling is reviewing guides, education documents and checklists to ensure they have value and are consistent across the healthcare system. The group is also shoring up timelines for orientation.

Role Clarity – Cleveland Clinic has very generic job descriptions for ANMs that outline general responsibilities and requirements and designate the role as 70% direct bedside work and 30% leadership/managerial work. However, the focus groups revealed that the split in duties wasn’t occurring throughout the organization on all units. The working group is identifying ways to operationalize the split, clarify leader behaviors expected at Cleveland Clinic and ensure ANMs are given opportunities to learn how to be leaders.

Annual Education/Pathway Development – This working group developed an ANM residency that will kick off in August. Nurses will participate in four classes covering effective teams, effective communication, facilitating change and the healthy work environment. They will also be matched with mentors. In addition, the group created an online ANM Resource Center as a “one-stop-shop for ANMs,” says Krivanek. It offers an abundance of resources on three main topics: orientation, residency and an ANM fellowship program. The fellowship program, which will launch in 2021, will be open to nurses after one year of ANM experience and will support individualized career progression for ANMs.

Creating Enterprise Standard ANM Councils – The working group is establishing ANM Councils at each Cleveland Clinic hospital, as well as an enterprise-wide council with one representative from each local ANM Council. “It’s very similar to other councils, such as ICU Councils and Med-Surg Councils,” says Prendergast. “They will work within their profession to develop and standardize everything from standard operating procedures to policies to tools they use on the job.”

System Access – ANMs are required to access numerous systems to perform their jobs, including quality dashboards, data reports, workforce management tools, an employee health software system and more. This working group is ensuring that ANMs have easy access to all the electronic tools they need and that those tools align with standardized work ANMs are expected to perform as leaders.

The overarching aim of all five working groups is to enhance the professional development of ANMs. “We want to make sure they have the right tools and resources to do their jobs,” says Prendergast. “We are focusing on development not just in the ANM role, but in the next step as well, such as a nurse manager or nursing operations manager.”