Currently Funded Research
Researchers Currently Funded by the AONL Foundation
Explore the list of research projects proudly funded by the AONL Foundation.
Interested in getting your research funded? See our open calls for new research proposals.
Lisa E. Guthrie, PhD, RN, NPD-BC (Principal Investigator)
Accelerating New Nurse Manager Competency Performance: A Multi-Method Pilot Study
Kelly Nicholson PhD, MPH, RN, NEA-BC, NPD-BC
Yale School of Nursing and Yale New Haven Health System
$15,000 Research Grant made possible by a generous gift from AMN Healthcare.
Nurse manager turnover, span of control and its associations with nurse turnover and patient outcomes in an academic healthcare system: A longitudinal analysis
About 1 in every 5 registered nurses working in a hospital have left their job in 2021 and 2022 (corresponding to 22-27% turnover). This persistent turnover of acute care nurses presents a substantial threat to the health and well-being of hospitalized patients, families, nurses, and healthcare systems. Job dissatisfaction relating to work environment is the primary reason nurses consider other jobs or leave the profession. Nurse managers, who provide direct supervision to nurses working inpatient units and have oversight and influence on the work environment, can greatly impact nurse turnover. Our previous work suggests that improvements in nurse manager leadership and ability are significantly associated with less staff nurse turnover, but nurse managers also face increasing pressures in their roles and practice; large and variable spans of control make the work of modern nurse managers untenable. A more detailed understanding of how nurse manager turnover may contribute to staff nurse turnover, nurse satisfaction, and nurse-sensitive indicators is needed, as well as how the relationship between nurse manager turnover and staff nurse turnover may be influenced by nurse staffing, the work environment, or nurse satisfaction. Our work includes a detailed longitudinal assessment of these relationships to inform future interventions to address turnover at all levels and provide guidance for nurse leaders to best support the nursing workforce.
Cheryl Jones, PhD, RN and Donna Havens, PhD, RN
AONL Foundation CNO Turnover Study
Made possible by a generous gift from AMN Healthcare.
Chief Nursing Officers (CNOs) provide leadership that is critical to patient welfare, quality nursing practice and organizational performance. Typically leading the largest group of health professionals in a healthcare organization, CNOs "... bear much of the responsibility for ensuring a positive patient experience and for keeping tabs on quality and patient safety issues" (Hendren, 2011, p. 1). In hospitals, the CNO is responsible for developing and maintaining the capacity for care delivery, interpreting and advocating for nurses and patients, and influencing clinical, fiscal and administrative outcomes (American Organization for Nurse Executives [AONE], 2005; Caroselli, 2010; Havens, Thompson, & Jones, 2008; Jones, Havens, & Thompson, 2008; Jones, Havens, & Thompson, 2009; Kippenbrock, 1995; VHA, 2005). CNOs have long been responsible for maintaining and ensuring an adequate nurse workforce to meet patient care needs, maximize “quality of patient care, the professional satisfaction of nurses, and the goals of cost-effectiveness for the institution” (Clifford, 1998, p.5), but contemporary CNOs are responsible for demonstrating care value within and across organizational boundaries, and providing leadership during uncertain environmental changes.
Unfortunately, data on CNO retention, turnover and stability are limited (Bacheller, 2010). The American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) and the AONL Foundation launched an important first step in 2006 by examining CNO turnover and retention on a national level. In collaboration with researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Havens and Jones), AONL conducted a multi-phased study. Phase I gathered data via an online survey of current, interim and past CNOs to describe the CNO role, experiences with voluntary and involuntary turnover, and related CNO retention issues. Phase II used confidential telephone interviews with the same CNO population to gain additional insights into CNO turnover that augmented the online survey findings. Phase III surveyed staff nurses, nurse managers and directors to examine the impact of CNO turnover on care delivery. The team disseminated findings through multiple presentations and publications to raise awareness of this crucial role, the potential pending crisis and to raise awareness regarding needed strategies to ameliorate the situation.
This is the third study in a series of work to identify and monitor the status of U.S. CNO turnover and retention, taking advantage of the opportunity to compare CNO turnover at three points in time and develop a tested method for tracking CNO turnover into the future.