Nurse cross-training addresses ED boarding

Writing in the December issue of Nurse Leader, Angela Brown, MSN, RN, a 2024 AONL Nurse Director Fellowship participant and director of the Emergency Care Center, Marcus Trauma Center at Grady Health System in Atlanta, discusses her capstone project addressing emergency department boarding. She explains how Grady implemented a cross-training model to train surgical intensive care unit nurses to work in the ED trauma center and train trauma nurses to work in the SICU. Nurses who complete training work two shifts per week in their home unit and one shift in the alternate unit. The program reduced ED boarding and enabled trauma patients who remained in the ED for prolonged periods to receive ICU-level interventions within the recommended timeframe, improving outcomes.