Amiana Ligon, a Central Staffing Office business associate and patient sitter, said floating to different units has helped her meet people and given her insight into a variety of career opportunities at Bridgeport Hospital.
There’s a saying, “You never know what tomorrow may bring,” that literally describes Jamie Watt’s work life.
Jamie Watt, RN, Central Staffing Office, said he enjoys the variety of working in different settings.
A registered nurse with Yale New Haven Health’s Central Staffing Office, Watt might work one day at Bridgeport Hospital’s Medical ICU and the next at Yale New Haven Hospital’s Heart and Vascular Center Cardiac ICU.
“After that, I could be anywhere,” he said.
Launched in February 2022, the Central Staffing Office (CSO) combined the former float pools at Bridgeport, Greenwich and Yale New Haven hospitals into a health system department. (The CSO does not cover Lawrence + Memorial and Westerly hospitals due to collective bargaining agreements.)
The nearly 500 CSO nurses, business associates, patient sitters and nursing assistants fill in for employees who are out due to illness, vacation or other reasons. CSO staff cover the ICUs, Emergency Departments and Pediatric, Med-Surg and Psychiatric inpatient units.
“The CSO has grown exponentially over the years,” said Laura Jansen, RN, clinical program director lead. “It’s been a big success.”
Jansen is one of six CSO clinical program directors. Other staff include professional development specialists, payroll specialists and staffing and logistics associates.
The CSO is a hybrid between a hospital float pool and an agency that provides travelers. CSO business associates, patient sitters and nursing assistants cover different units within their “home” hospital, while nurses can work at any of the three participating hospitals.
“I love floating to all the different floors. I meet a lot of different staff and patients,” said Amiana Ligon, a CSO business associate and patient sitter at Bridgeport Hospital. “I’m thinking about going into nursing, and this role has given me a lot of insight into what I might want to do in my career.”
“We have staff who might otherwise have left to become travelers,” said Anslem Emenyonu, RN, clinical program director. “With the CSO, they’re able to stay with the organization but have the opportunity to travel.”
Travelers from outside agencies can be extremely costly, so the CSO helps save the health system money. But there are other major benefits. Because they’re YNHHS employees, CSO nurses can be deployed to any of the three participating hospitals at any time. Outside travelers are restricted to one hospital for the length of their contract.
CSO staff are familiar with YNHHS policies, procedures and priorities, such as our Standards of Professional Behavior, CHAMP behaviors and Care Signature Clinical Pathways. They receive the same training and ongoing professional development as other YNHHS staff and are involved in health system activities, including research, quality improvement projects and Nursing Professional Governance. Working in different units and hospitals helps them expand their knowledge and broaden their perspectives, contributing to a professionally challenging work environment that helps with retention.
A number of CSO staff members started with the department as graduate nurses. Others, like Watt, had prior nursing experience. He worked in the YNHH Saint Raphael Campus float pool for two years before joining the CSO.
“I like being part of the health system, and having the benefits of being a health system employee,” he said. “I also like the variety every day. I feel like I’m not specializing in just one thing, but a lot of different types of nursing.”
