Renfrey Memorial Hospital is a 200 bed regional hospital located in the Midwest. It has been in existence for 32 years and was named after a prominent philanthropist in the area, Mr. Gilbert H. Renfrey, who made many financial contributions to projects in and around the community where Renfrey Memorial Hospital is located. The hospital maintains the only 24 hour emergency department in the area, as well as an “extended hours” urgent care clinic. The hospital is encountering a problem with nursing staff retention. Sixty-eight percent of the nursing staff is over the age of 45, and facing retirement. The hospital commissioned a survey that revealed many of the nursing staff finds the work too physically demanding and many are feeling physically exhausted and report emotional burn out as well. Several of the survey respondents report they are stressed to the breaking point caring for aging parents in addition to working at Renfrey. In the past two years, the hospital has seen an exodus of nurses. The hospital has been forced to use temporary pool nurses from an agency. This has driven up personnel costs and also resulted in decreased rankings on patient satisfaction surveys. In addition, the nursing shortage is making it difficult to recruit replacement nurses for the staff who plan on retiring within the next couple of years. Renfrey Memorial Hospital faces significant staffing challenges ahead as it grapples with these issues and the hospital board is very concerned. They know there must be some changes made in order to prevent a major financial and human resources crisis in the future.

For your Final Paper, you will create a 10- to-15 page proposal (excluding title and reference pages) for the Renfrey Memorial Hospital Board of Directors. In your proposal, you will:

• Include an executive summary.
• Research and identify solutions implemented at five other hospitals in the US that were dealing with these same issues (benchmarking).
• Based on your research, identify two solutions that are the most viable for Renfrey Memorial Hospital to implement within the next two years.
• Present an analysis of the two solutions that you have selected in terms of at least five stakeholder groups involved (e.g. patients, hospital administration, accounting, HR, marketing, third-party payers, etc.). Who is impacted? What change processes may be required? What fiscal impact would occur?
• Make a recommendation, with detailed justification and research support, on the single solution that you feel is best for Renfrey Memorial Hospital. Explain why you feel it is the best and most viable solution given the financial impact, HR issues, interpersonal dynamics of hospital personnel, cultural shift, and change management.
• To prepare your board proposal, utilize at least 10- to-12 scholarly and/or peer-reviewed sources that were published within the past five years, including a minimum of five from the Ashford University Library. All sources must be cited according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Writing the Final Paper

1. Must be 10 to 15 double-spaced pages in length, and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
2. Must include a title page with the following:
   1. Title of paper
   2. Student’s name
   3. Course name and number
   4. Instructor’s name
   5. Date submitted
3. Must include an introductory paragraph with a succinct thesis statement.
4. Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
5. Must conclude with a restatement of the thesis and a conclusion paragraph.
6. Must utilize a minimum of ten scholarly sources, including a minimum of five from the Ashford University Library.
7. Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
8. Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.