Physician as Healer, Leader and Partner: Tackling the Nursing Shortage

Physicians have been notably silent on the nursing shortage in spite of articles that have suggested that physician behavior is one of the causes of job dissatisfaction among professional nurses. In addition to the role of healer, the physicians of the Colorado Permanente Medical Group (CPMG) are expected to have the additional responsibilities of being both leaders in health care and strong clinical partners with the nursing staff. CPMG has embarked upon a program to leverage physician leadership to address the nursing shortage through multiple avenues. We expect not only to increase the number of nurses in the future, but also to enhance their careers by being their "Preferred Clinical Partner."

To describe a model for engaging physicians in becoming active participants in solving the nursing shortage through leadership and partnering.

The Preferred Clinical Partner Program has been developed to address the nursing shortage in multiple ways. We have significantly increased the number of scholarships available for nursing students as well as funding and developing additional educational programs to meet the needs of nurses entering from various points in their lives and educational journeys. We have also enhanced programs around physicians serving as teachers and mentors in the education and long-term development of health care team members. And finally, we are clarifying leadership and partnership expectations for physicians and developing very specific physician-nurse relationship training programs to try to solidify the long-term sustainability of careers of these important members of our health care team.

Physician groups that take an active role by "opting-in" to nursing shortage issues will benefit by having an engaged, professional, compassionate nurse on their health care team.