Document Type
DNP Project
Publication Date
2025
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Faculty Advisor
Sharon Bradley, DNP, MSN, RN, CCM, CPHQ, NE-BC
Practice Mentor
Carissa Conelias, DNP, RN, NEA-BC
Abstract
Background/Introduction: Employee satisfaction and patient satisfaction/experience are largely correlated and when one declines, evidence suggests that the other will be affected similarly (Copanitsanou et al., 2017). The Great Place to Work (GPTW), a nationally recognized designation, is measured using a standardized, commercially available staff survey to evaluate nurses’ satisfaction throughout the project site organization (Boo, 2024). Nurse-nurse collaboration is one model to implement approaches to improve staff satisfaction (Stutting, 2023).
Project Goals
- Implement and pilot a nurse-nurse collaboration ‘break buddy’ model to support staff and increase employee satisfaction on a Cardiology Unit in a community hospital setting within a 2-month time frame.
- Increase the employee satisfaction post 2 months implementation and beyond.
Methods: The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Model (PDSA) guided the project’s implementation and evaluation (IHI, 2021). A new staffing coverage model, Break Buddy, was developed and implemented to promote staff opportunities for uninterrupted work rest periods during their assigned shift.
Results: Pre-intervention, 40% of the 15 participants favorably rated various workplace elements addressed in the 13 survey questions, while 60% of the 15 participants unfavorably rated the same elements. Post-intervention, 77% of the 15 participants favorably rated the same elements, while 23% unfavorably rated the elements.
Conclusion: Nurse-nurse collaboration, through the ‘Break Buddy’ model may be helpful in improving staff workplace satisfaction by promoting daily uninterrupted rest breaks to relax and recharge.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Barbarino, A. (2025). Implementing "break buddies", a nurse-nurse collaboration model, to improve employee satisfaction within cardiology unit [Unpublished DNP project] Sacred Heart University.
Comments
A DNP project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Nursing Practice, Sacred Heart University Davis & Henley College of Nursing.