The Washington State Hospital Association and The Association of Washington Public Hospital Districts are partnering to offer a Rural Nurse Leader Training Program.
Who: Rural nurse managers, charge nurses, and clinical nurse educators selected by their leadership to receive leadership/management training.
What: A cohort of nurse learners will attend 6-8 virtual training sessions
When: Spring 2025
This training is free for rural hospitals in Washington and will focus on providing nurse leaders in rural care environments with the skills they need to be effective managers, support their teams, and improve patient care. The curriculum will be tailored to the needs of the learners based on a pre-assessment, but is expected to include topics such as:
- Leadership skills for retention and engagement of staff
- Effective communication and coaching
- Leading for high-quality care
- Delegation skills
- The role of nurses in a changing environment of care.
- Workplace violence prevention and response
- Patient-centered SOGI and health equity considerations
We will host 6 to 8 virtual 1-hour training sessions over the course of 2-3 months (Spring 2025) with content repeated for day and night shift. These sessions will be dynamic and interactive with high engagement from learners in a cohort of peers across the state. Continuing education credit will be offered. Learners should also expect to spend approximately 1 hour per session applying the concepts they are learning in their care settings.
Registration
Registration is closed for the 2025 cohort. Registration for 2026 will open in September 2025.
About the Trainers
Lead Faculty: Ruth Hansten, RN, MBA, PhD is lead faculty for this program. Dr. Hansten brings both a practical and humorous approach to nursing. For the past 25 years, her national consulting practice has supported critical thinking, delegation, leadership skills, coaching and interdisciplinary team development. Her care delivery model, Relationship and Results Oriented Healthcare® (RROHC), results in better patient outcomes, clinical indicators, employee engagement, provider satisfaction, and healthcare employee retention. Dr. Hansten is a frequent webinar faculty for nursing leadership, charge RN and nurse manager education, delegation, supervision, assignment, and resiliency. Click here for Dr. Hansten’s full bio.
Co-Faculty
- Amy Anderson, MN, BSN, RN, CNS, Director of Clinical Excellence, Washington State Hospital Association
- Trish Anderson, MBA BSN, CPHQ, Senior Director of Clinical Excellence, Washington State Hospital Association
- Gena Cooper, RN, MSN, CIC, MHP, CPHQ, Director of Clinical Excellence, Washington State Hospital Association
Learner Requirements
- Participants must be nurses who are currently in charge nurse, management, clinical nurse educator, or equivalent roles. Those newly hired/promoted into these positions are welcome!
- Good faith commitment to attend all learning sessions and apply the learnings to your care setting. Session dates/times will be determined based on the schedules of the cohort.
Leadership Requirements
- Hospital CNO (or equivalent position) must sign a commitment form that includes the following:
- Commitment that participating nurses will be paid for their time taking the courses (1-hour per session) plus one additional hour per session to work on application of the concepts they learned. We will offer 6 to 8 one-hour sessions with an expected total commitment of 12-16 hours.
- Brief outline of a plan for coverage for the nurse’s shift during training times. We recommend they do the training when they are off shift, but other plans are acceptable.
- Agreement to complete the leadership pre-assessment (Due November 30, 2024) and post-assessment (due June 15, 2025)
- Conduct the ACCN Healthy Workforce Assessment on the units where the participating nurses work before and after the training (Due November 30, 2024 and June 15, 2025 respectively.
Pre-Assessment and Post-assessment
The preassessment will consist of:
- A short leadership survey
- The ACCN Healthy Workforce Assessment
Details about the ACCN Healthy Workforce Assessment are available from AACN’s website. The rest of the pre-assessment is still in development, but once materials are ready, we will post them here for your review. Detailed instructions will also be provided for all enrolled hospitals. All pre-assessment materials are due by November 30, 2024. Hospitals that do not complete all their pre-assessment materials by the deadline will not be able to participate.
The post assessment will consist of the same materials, with a few modifications to capture learner and leadership feedback and will be due by June 15, 2025.
Timeline
- September 1, 2024: Registration open.
- November 30, 2024: Pre-assessment completed.
- March 2025 – May 2025: Virtual Learning Sessions occur. Exact dates/times will be identified based on the schedules of the enrolled nurses.
- May 2025 – June 15, 2025: Post-assessment completed.
Contact
Please contact Megan Herman, meganh@wsha.org for any questions about this program.
This program is funded by WSHA, AWPHD and a 2024 Health Equity and Nursing Innovations grant from AARP, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, and the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action (an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation).
