Nurses find benefit in 'buddy’ staffing model

A “buddy” staffing model at a 275-bed acute care community-based hospital in the Northeast promoted efficiency, maintained patient safety, cultivated teamwork, provided fundamental nursing care, and left nurses feeling supported by leadership, according a study in the December Nurse Leader. The buddy RNs were surgical, inpatient medical and ambulatory nurses who were redeployed to critical care units during the first wave of COVID-19. During the second wave, ambulatory care and nonclinical nurses served as buddy RNs on medical and step-down units. Nurses perceived efficiency and the ability to provide fundamental nursing care as key attributes of the model. In noncritical care areas, the model generated teamwork, collaboration and feelings of support from leadership.