Proactive downsizing: merging two units into one.

Abstract

Downsizing is a word firmly entrenched in the vocabulary of healthcare institutions. So, nurse managers, will your area be downsized by choice or by mandate? Will you be proactive or reactive? The decision is up to you. Two surgical nurse managers recognized the signs of the times and developed their own downsizing proposal to merge two units. Here are the steps they followed for a proactive approach to combine two clinical units into one.