ONL NJ supports formation of nurse staffing councils

In the August issue of Nurse Leader, the Organization of Nurse Leaders New Jersey (ONL NJ) described a call to action, urging NJ hospitals to implement Nurse Workplace Environment and Staffing Councils (NWESCs). ONL NJ pioneered this approach to empower nurses to drive organizational policy change at nine NJ hospitals in 2017 and 2018. The article explains how the councils are structured and provides guidance for establishing them. The NWESC Steering Committee is developing metrics for measuring the councils’ effectiveness. Research shows that healthy work environments for nurses are associated with both better employee engagement and patient outcomes.