b'HOW THE ENDOWED FUND IS USEDScholarshipsFunds are used to support clinical nursing staff pursuing specialty certifications and to extend educational opportunities to local and national conferences. Supporting our nurses with these scholarships HonorHealth invests in its nurses and recognizesultimately provides the best outcomes for our their unique gifts while empowering them topatients.strive for personal, professional and academic success. One-third of the total workforce, or 4,550Increase continuing education events, of its 14,000 employees, are registered nurses. Inincluding visiting scholars and healthcare thought addition to the hospital setting, many nurses areleaders to emphasize learning on key dates like employed in primary care facilities, infusion clinicsCertified Nurses Day, Nurses Week, etc., and a and in the HonorHealth Research Institute. research festival to allow nurses the opportunity to showcase their discoveries.RECRUITING AND RETAINING Increase specialty academy enrollment/THE BEST NURSES The new HonorHealth Nursing Excellencecurriculum to train novice nurses and those new Endowment fosters engagement and helpsto their specialty.improve and stabilize nurse retention systemwide. Through the generosity ofPurchase technology and equipment to allow donors and the creation of this endowment,for virtual/asynchronous learning options, so we HonorHealth is focusing its efforts on improvingcan expand opportunities for all nursing shifts.the retention rate for nurses, particularly thoseTrain other rural healthcare system nurses to early in their career. support broader community health.We are highly focused on recruitment andCreate internal/external fellowships to retention strategies for our nurses, says Kathiprepare nurses for career advancement, creating Zarubi, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursecareer pathways and leader succession.Executive, HonorHealth. We believe in an Fund the Nurse Explorers Club, a monthly empowered nursing workforce that is dedicatedto professional development and a structureinteractive program for high school students of governance that embraces shared-decisioninterested in becoming nurses. Teens are the making. It is through support and education thatleaders of the club and help set the agendas with we provide this structure for our nurses. support from Center for Clinical Excellence staff and nurse leaders.As of October 2022, HonorHealth had a nursing vacancy rate that varied per campus from -0.1Jared Langkilde, president and CEO, HonorHealth percent to -10.9 percent. Each time HonorHealthFoundation, summarized the importance of this loses a nurse, the cost to the system is $100,000.fund by saying, We are on a quest to make the The impact of this fund not only saves money, butNursing Excellence Endowment an enduring helps provide seamless, expert care for patients. resource that benets nurses today and for many, many years to come!The nursing profession has certainly taken a hit due to the stress of Covid-19. It is estimated that about 100,000 nurses in the U.S. alone left the profession due to burnout during the pandemic, Zarubi explains. To combat the shortage, weIf youre interested in learning have hired a signicant number of new graduates.more about the HonorHealth Thirty percent of our current RN workforce hasNursing Excellence Endowment, fewer than three years of experience. please call 480-587-5000 or scan the QR code at left.HonorHealth Foundation Magazine 13'