Westminster, Md. – Leslie Simmons, vice president of patient care services at Carroll County General Hospital, was honored by the Maryland Hospital Association (MHA) for her advocacy work on issues related to the statewide nursing shortage. As one of 11 nurses selected from around the state, Simmons was recognized for her contributions on developing strategies for staffing and scheduling of nurses, as the chairperson of the Staffing and Scheduling Task Force.

The task force was organized by the Clinical and Quality Issues Council of the MHA.

“It’s nice to be recognized for the work that is being done at local hospitals,” said Simmons, who is also a member of the Governor’s Commission on the Crisis in Nursing. “The task force received a great deal of support by partnering with the MHA on this issue.”

The Staffing and Scheduling Task Force was designed to establish specific guiding principles for staffing and scheduling of nurses that could be adopted by all hospitals in Maryland. Among the more notable proposals are using mandatory overtime only as a mechanism of last resort and coordinating nursing schedules around quality of life issues, such as family. The preliminary recommendations have already received support from the MHA and several area hospitals.

“We need to be flexible and offer as many opportunities as we can to meet the demands of a diverse work force, so that the nursing profession can become more attractive,” Simmons said. “The guidelines are meant to be a set of best practice techniques that promote nursing management and staff working together to create win-win situations for everyone.”

Carroll County General Hospital has managed a lower vacancy rate for nurses than the state’s 15 percent average due to initiatives such as, the addition of a transport team, an IV therapy team, a Clinical Ladder program that provides incentive bonuses for additional certification, and flexible scheduling alternatives.

Simmons also is in the process of implementing a mentoring program as a way to recruit and retain nursing graduates. This fall, 14 graduates will begin working at the hospital under the new program.

“All hospitals are wrestling with the same issues,” she said, “therefore we need to develop a lot of creative solutions to ease the nursing shortage, beginning with establishing a whole new working environment. This should help make the profession more attractive.”

Founded in 1961, Carroll County General Hospital is a nonprofit, acute care facility offering a continuum of services, including comprehensive inpatient, outpatient and community programs.

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