UVA Earn While You Learn Program Boosts Post-pandemic Staffing
University of Virginia (UVA) Medical Center | Charlottesville, Virginia
The Background
Located in Charlottesville, Va., the University of Virginia (UVA) Medical Center is a 696-bed academic medical center that is a Level I trauma center and Tier 1 research university. It has 9,012 employees and offers staff well-being programs, on-site child care and professional learning opportunities.
Like most academic medical centers, UVA was plagued by staffing shortages. At the start of the pandemic, the staff rallied and focused on caring for patients. Then after COVID-19 cases subsided, senior leadership evaluated the workforce and realized that it was obliterated. They were tired, burned out, and some had left the profession. But most importantly, the medical center did not have the support teams needed to help their nurses. Leadership began critically thinking about how to care for patients in the here and now, and how to get creative in staffing.
Development and Progression of the Earn While You Learn Program
In March 2022, UVA assessed their workforce postpandemic and discussed the development of an “earn while you learn” program with leadership. There were significant vacancies in many areas within the UVA system but not enough trained and licensed applicants to fill them. The Earn While You Learn staff worked closely with the human resources department to streamline hiring so that it is done as a cohort at three times throughout the year: February, June and October. From the beginning, application numbers have been high and are first come, first served to train participants and fill open positions as quickly as possible. They began with external hires to minimize staffing shortages in other areas of the hospital, but quickly expanded to internal hires as the program gained traction. The completion rate is around 75% to date, and a one-year commitment is required. As of August 2023, 175 people have completed the program and another 66 are enrolled.
UVA could not have anticipated how quickly the idea would take off in the Charlottesville community, and they quickly adjusted to accommodate the interest. UVA staff first developed the pharmacy technician program in June 2022, where they recruited 35 local residents interested in health care careers. For 12 weeks, the students job shadowed for half the day and participated in more didactic programs the other half of the day. Building from the pharmacy tech program, UVA expanded to include certified nursing assistant, emergency medical technician, medical assistant, phlebotomist and sterile processing. The program provides participants full-time salary and benefits, with approximately 50% of their time spent in the classroom and the remainder in their clinical units for a more immersive education. Each participant is assigned a preceptor to help build skills.
Results and Lessons Learned
The Earn While You Learn program has been a team effort. Living in Charlottesville, which is a fairly rural community, staff recognized it was imperative to train local residents and ensure that the medical center employees represent the communities that they serve.
Now that the program has been in place one year, the team finds it satisfying to see the first cohorts working on the floors and in the clinics and inpatient units. For many local community members, the Earn While You Learn program has been a gateway to a career, and they are motivated and inspired to continue their health care path. Staff at UVA reflected that they routinely hear, “I’ve always wanted to get into health care but didn’t know how to start,” and the Earn While You Learn program provided them a clear path to a health care career. From the first cohort, UVA saw interest from people who resettled in the Charlottesville community, as well as the local high schools and youth organizations. UVA wanted to build the pipeline to include youth outreach because interest in health care careers often begins before students graduate from high school. In some cases, UVA has witnessed families progress through the programs together. In addition to having a positive impact on the community, current UVA staff see the success of the program and feel supported in succeeding in their work. Many UVA team members have reached out to Earn While You Learn staff with ideas to support their units and a willingness to participate in training the next generation of team members.
The staff at UVA started with one program and continued to add more programs after the first cohort. They chose to take the program a step at a time and did not wait to begin until they had all the planning in place. There have been times when staff moved forward knowing the plan was not perfect, and trusted that they were going to learn from it. With regular communication, transparency and trust, the Earn While You Learn team has been able to iterate on their efforts and garner support from the entire organization.
The team also emphasized the importance of developing a vision for the long-term pipeline and career opportunities beyond the current needs. They wanted to ensure that the opportunities did not end with a job, but could be developed into a career path. There are career pipelines within each track as well as tuition reimbursement, which enables individuals to further their career, if they so choose. The university also developed a Pipelines and Pathways program that ensures that individuals are workforce ready, including assistance with transportation, child care and life skills.
The program requires heavy collaboration between senior leadership, as well as departmental leadership, educational systems both internal and external as well as ongoing needs assessments to keep pace with the changing nature of health care.
Building and retaining a nursing workforce is one of the many challenges facing health care today. In this conversation, Wendy Horton, chief executive officer of UVA Health, and Beth Mehring, program manager of the “Earn While You Learn” program at UVA Health, discuss the successes of "Earn While You Learn" and how their approach to sustaining the nursing workforce can provide solutions for hospitals and health systems moving forward.