The Synergy Model in Practice

The following articles, printed bimonthly in Critical Care Nurse, provide evidence of the AACN Synergy Model for Patient Care in daily practice, and guidance for implementing the model. Also included is the transcription of the Synergy Model Panel Discussion from the 1999 NTI.

These articles can be viewed or printed using Adobe Acrobat.

Certification: A Strategy for the Future - This is a transcription of a panel discussion from the 1999 NTI, moderated by Barbara Gill, then-Chair of the AACN Certification Corporation Board of Directors. It includes a consumer representative, a staff nurse, a nurse manager and a CNS each providing their views and insights into the application of the Synergy Model to nursing practice.

Linking Patient Needs to Nurse Competencies - This article provides examples of assessing patient needs and nurse characteristics using the Synergy Model. Gives charge nurses the words they need to accurately describe the factors that enter into their decision-making process of matching patients to nurses.

Contemporary Practice of the Clinical Nurse Specialist - Uses the Synergy Model to illuminate the contemporary practice of CNSs.

The Day the Lights Went Out: One Charge Nurse's Nightmare - Exemplar - Highlights the collaborative efforts of a multidisciplinary team during an environmental disaster. The Synergy Model is used to frame the unit's needs and the nursing competencies that were critically important during the event.

Building a Clinical Advancement Program - Nursing leaders are continually challenged to find innovative solutions that define, recognize and reward progressively developing nursing expertise demonstrated at the bedside. In searching for a model on which to base their CAP, All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida settled on the Synergy Model. Here's why.

Advanced Practice Nurses: Guiding Families Through Systems - Using the Synergy Model in advanced practice.

Being a Good Dance Partner - An example of a situation in which changing nursing style facilitated synergy between a nurse and a patient's wife, allowing both to do what they needed in a difficult situation.

Establishing Criteria for 1:1 Staffing Ratios - Using the Synergy Model to determine staffing for intensive care units (ICUs).

Using the Synergy Model to Link Nursing Care to Diagnosis-Related Groups - Describes a project in which the Synergy Model is used to link nursing care to DRGs, the basis of the established method of reimbursement and the language used by payers.

Strengthening Nurses' Moral Agency - Discusses how nurses' competencies of advocacy and moral agency when practiced within a synergistic relationship can strengthen patients' outcomes and nurses' moral agency.

Applying the Synergy Model: Clinical Strategies - Uses a clinical exemplar to articulate the varied and unique contributions nurses bring to optimizing patient outcomes.

Pediatric Critical Care Nursing: Annie's Story - How the Synergy Model was used in providing optimal care for one pediatric patient.

The Leader as Synergist - Describes what leaders can do to help create a Synergistic environment within their organization.

Applying the Synergy Model to Nursing Education - Discusses how the Synergy Model provides a basis for the multifaceted role of the nurse educator.

Promoting Synergy in Critical Care - Describes use of the Synergy Model to address staffing challenges in delivering safe, effective care to critically ill, yet stable PCU patients.

The Interdisciplinary Team Across the Continuum of Care - A case study demonstrating how the use of interdisciplinary planning and competencies of the Synergy Model contributed to positive outcomes in one complex patient.

The Synergy Model as a Framework for Nursing Rounds - A case study illustrating how the Synergy Model can be incorporated into patient rounds in the critical care unit.

Case Study of a CHF Patient - Shows how the Synergy Model can be applied to a variety of settings and can be used to guide the practice of advanced practice nurses.

An MSN Curriculum in Preparation of CCNSs: A Model for Consideration - Details how the Synergy Model has been incorporated into a graduate program of study preparing critical care clinical nurse specialists.

Extending the Synergy Model to Preceptorship: A Preliminary Proposal - Introduces application of the Synergy Model in a new way - to the preceptor (nurse) and preceptee (patient) - and invites readers' reactions, critique and suggestions related to the proposal.

Using the Synergy Model to Provide Spiritual Nursing Care in Critical Care Settings - Identifies challenges of providing spiritual care in critical care settings and recommends nursing interventions based on the Synergy Model targeted to spiritual needs of the critically ill.