By Irina B. Grafova, Pamela B. de Cordova, Jennifer Polakowski, and Jessica Anderson
The New Jersey Nursing Well-Being Institute has hosted over 90 Virtual Schwartz Rounds (VSR) sessions in the past three years, offering a flexible, free forum where nurses can connect with peers.
How do nurses take advantage of this flexibility? According to VSR session registration data, about 40% of nurses who register for a VSR session attend it. The most common reasons for not attending include time conflicts and forgetting about the session. But what about the nurses who do attend? How do they utilize the VSR program?
To answer this, our team launched two surveys in April 2024: a retrospective survey (n=273) targeting nurses who registered before April 23, 2024, and a concurrent survey (n=57) targeting those who attended sessions after that date. Both surveys used nearly identical questionnaires to ensure consistency. We found that participants in both surveys were similar in age, race, gender, type of nursing license, and their ratings of the VSR program’s effectiveness. The typical nurse participant in both surveys was a White woman in her mid- to late 50s with an RN license.
Results indicate that among former VSR participants, 66% attended only one to four sessions, suggesting that most nurses leave the program after just a few sessions. Only 9% of former participants attended 10 or more sessions. In contrast, 19% of current VSR participants have attended 10 or more sessions, indicating a more engaged group. Additionally, about 28% of the nurses in each current session were new to the VSR program, highlighting a steady influx of new participants.
The varying patterns of VSR utilization highlight the diverse needs of the nursing community. The steady inflow of new participants suggests that the VSR program continues to attract and meet the needs of nurses seeking emotional support. Understanding VSR utilization patterns can help improve the VSR program to better serve the diverse needs of the nursing community.