AARP and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN Critical-Care) have awarded more than $355,000 to 20 projects offering innovative and replicable solutions to strengthen the nursing workforce by creating and sustaining healthy work environments aimed at improving recruitment and retention rates of registered nurses.

Arkansas-Missouri

Honoring Excellence: A DAISY-Inspired Nursing Recognition and Support Program

Ozarks New, Inc.

California

True Colors: Cultivating Team Dynamics and Retention in Critical Care Nursing

American Career College Educational Foundation

OptiNURSE (Nursing Unit Resource for Staffing Equity): An AI-Assisted Model for Balanced Nurse-Patient Assignments,
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

CCRN (Critical-care Certified Registered Nurse)/PCCN (Progressive Care Certified Nurses) Certification Support Program

Kaweah Health Foundation

Colorado

UCHealth MHC (Memorial Hospital Central) MICU (Medical Intensive Care Unit)  Moments that Matter Project

Memorial Health System Foundation

District of Columbia

Improving Palliative Care Teamwork in the ICU-Interprofessional Education: IMPACT-IPE (interprofessional education)
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital

Florida

Early Career Day

MAYO Clinic – Florida

Maryland

SJMC (St. Joseph Medical Center) NursePulse: Empowering Care Through Biometric Rings
University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation, Inc.

Missouri

Nurturing Resilience and Transformative Healing: Supporting Trauma Adaptive Recovery (NORTH STAR)
Barnes-Jewish Hospital

New Jersey

You Have to Go Home, and You Can’t Stay Here: ICU Liberation and the Healthy Work Environment
Virtua Health Inc.

New York

AI-Powered Wearables and Peer Support
Kaleida Health d/b/a Buffalo General Medical Center          

A charge nurse is not just a leader – they are the heartbeat of every shift
Long Island Jewish Forest Hills Hospital      

The THRIVE (Teamwork, Healing, Resilience, Integration, Vitality and Engagement)  Program: A Pathway to Nursing Success, Retention, and Resilience in the Surgical ICU and Stepdown
Maimonides Medical Center

Career Continuum: Strategic Pipelining to Strengthen the Nursing Workforce
Northwell Health, Inc.

Project HEART (Helping, Educating, and Advancing Resilient Teams)
St. Francis Hospital

Pennsylvania

Leading the Charge for Employee Engagement
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Jefferson Health

Texas

Addressing the Challenge of Bidirectional Communication in Nursing Units
Memorial Hermann Foundation         

Virginia
 
Establishing a Healthy Work Environment for BRH (Blue Ridge Hospice) RNs
Blue Ridge Hospice

Washington

ICU Recognition TV – I C the AMAZING in U
Providence Sacred Medical Center

Wisconsin

Addressing Moral Distress and Secondary Traumatic Stress Among Hospital nurses who Witness Unexpected Patient Deterioration
Marquette University


Additional Resources

Application [word doc]

Frequently asked questions 

AACN Critical Care Standards for Establishing and Sustaining Healthy Work Environments 

AACN Critical Care Healthy Work Environment Assessment Tool (HWEAT) Frequently Asked Questions 

Video demonstration for setting up HWEAT-Teams survey 

Sample executive letter of support 

National Academy of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity 

Nursing Innovations Fund past awardees