title: Attending registered nurse: an innovative role to manage between spaces.
abstract: Massachusetts General Hospital embarked on the implementation of a new model that redesigned the role of selected staff nurses, advanced standardized processes, improved workflow, and introduced technology to enhance communication. These efforts included selecting 12 inpatient units to function as "Innovation Units". These units were specifically designated to support rapid change and test initiatives that would reduce costs and improve quality. The work of the Innovation Units allows nurse leaders to understand if the goals for improvement could be adopted by all inpatient units and beyond the walls of the hospital. The high-leverage intervention of introducing the role of the "Attending Nurse" in coordinating the work of the interdisciplinary team in addressing overuse, underuse, and misuse of services has been a significant staffing innovation. The Attending Nurse, while just one strategy, has placed the nurse at the center of the care team.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Jeanette Ives
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Erickson
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ditomassi
authors.forename: Jeffrey M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Adams
mesh_terms: D001900:Boston; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016730:Program Development; D012015:Reference Standards; D057188:Workflow