At Inova Health System’s adult infusion center, patient hours had climbed significantly. Then severe understaffing hit — and leaders faced a hard question: could they hold that volume with fewer nurses at the bedside?
The proposed fix, a new nurse-pull scheduling model, met real resistance. Front-line nurses were skeptical, and their concerns were legitimate. Would a new staffing approach stretch them thinner, or actually help? Rather than mandate the change, Inova’s oncology nursing leaders treated that skepticism as the starting point.
In this session, two nurse leaders from Inova share how they built trust with front-line staff, implemented the model safely during a critical shortage, and sustained full patient access without compromising quality. The payoff wasn’t only operational. Nurses who started out asking “”will this really work?”” ended up leaving on time, handling add-ons without scrambling, and feeling more in control during a demanding stretch.
Insights include:
- How Inova turned skeptical front-line staff into advocates for operational change
- How a nurse-pull scheduling model sustained full patient access during severe understaffing without compromising safety or quality
- The real impact on nurse satisfaction — leaving on time, less pre-shift stress and more control during emergencies
- If you lead an infusion or oncology service line under staffing pressure, this is a candid, practical look at how one team protected both volume and morale. Register to join the live discussion.