In 2008, UnitedHealth Group faced a concerning and escalating issue. Its nursing workforce was suffering from a high turnover rate of their newly hired nurses and low nurse engagement. Realizing that its nurses needed more resources to develop their skills and better understand the business of healthcare, UnitedHealth Group launched the Center for Nursing Advancement to help develop, retain and engage its nursing workforce.
From initially serving only 6,000 UnitedHealth Group nurses in 2008 to uniting over 23,000 nurses today, the Center for Nursing Advancement evolved to become the Center for Clinician Advancement, a team designed to support a workforce of over 42,000 nurses, pharmacists, social workers, behavioral health clinicians, advanced practice clinicians and physicians through developmental initiatives that help them navigate their professions.
The Johnson & Johnson Notes on Nursing team recently spoke with Mary Jo Jerde, MBA, BSN, RN, FAAN, senior vice president and leader of the Center for Clinician Advancement at UnitedHealth Group, to learn more about how she and her team are taking an innovative approach to clinician advancement through programs and resources that are constantly adapting to the needs of their workforce and inspiring them to take on some of healthcare’s greatest challenges.
(Pictured above are Patrick Borowicz, RN, Case Manager, Optum Population Health, Patricia OConnor, RN, MPA, CCM, Manager, Case Management, Optum Population Health, and Becky Faustgen, PharmD, Clinical Pharmacist, UnitedHealthcare Pharmacy, of UnitedHealth Group’s Center for Clinician Advancement)