Podcast Summary: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

Guest: Dr. Cheryl Reinking, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, DipACLM, Chief Nursing Officer at El Camino Health
Host: Laura Deardle
Date: January 12, 2026
Main Theme: Strengthening Nursing Development and Leadership through Investment and Innovation

Episode Overview

This episode focuses on the strategic challenges facing the nursing workforce and the innovative steps El Camino Health is taking to address them. Dr. Cheryl Reinking discusses the creation of the Norman Melchor Nursing Excellence Endowment and shares strategies for developing nursing talent, improving retention, and creating flexible career pathways that empower nurses to lead and thrive in a rapidly evolving healthcare environment.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Strategic Challenges Facing Nursing Workforce (01:34)

• Nationwide challenges: Nurse turnover and retention have worsened post-pandemic.
• Importance of professional development: Ongoing investment in nurse education is crucial for retention and high-quality patient care.
• Financial barriers: Not all organizations can support these investments, but they are essential for workforce stability.

Quote:
“As we know across the country, nursing turnover and retention of nurses in our industry in healthcare is a challenge, and especially so since the pandemic.”
– Dr. Cheryl Reinking (01:34)

2. Impact and Goals of the Norman Melchor Nursing Excellence Endowment (02:34)

• Transformative investment: Enables nurses to upskill and explore specialties onsite, improving both retention and patient safety.
• Focus on Gen Z nurses: Recognizes that younger generations value opportunities for growth and development within their careers.

Quote:
“Being able to offer that right here on site for them to advance at El Camino Health is, we know, a true remarkable opportunity for us to retain and develop those nurses.”
– Dr. Cheryl Reinking (03:23)

3. Balancing Immediate Needs with Long-Term Workforce Strategy (04:18)

• Use of predictive analytics: Forecasts turnover and retirement trends to proactively plan education and specialty transition programs.
• Needs assessment-driven programming: Real-time educational “micro learnings” address knowledge gaps identified by nurses themselves.

Quote:
“We look at where our turnover is occur and where we may see retirements happening... that helps us to predict in the longer term where we might want to focus the education for our nurses.”
– Dr. Cheryl Reinking (04:23)

4. Current Upskilling and Training Priorities (05:49)

• Focus on workplace safety: Emphasis on de-escalation techniques, motivational interviewing, and trauma-informed care due to rising workplace violence.
• Responsive education: Hundreds of nurses have received targeted training designed to help them navigate challenging situations safely.

Quote:
“We've recently put hundreds and hundreds of our nurses through training to learn motivational interviewing, to learn trauma informed care so that they're more equipped to actually be able to perform de escalation in the moment. And that has made a huge difference.”
– Dr. Cheryl Reinking (06:12)

5. Link Between Professional Growth and Organizational Performance (07:04)

• Direct correlation: Highly skilled nurses lead to better patient outcomes.
• Nurse leaders as linchpins: Leadership development uplifts bedside nursing care quality and is essential for organizational resilience.

Quote:
“It's so clear that well prepared nurses and highly skilled nurses have a direct link to quality outcomes. However... nurse leaders, they are a very hardworking group and they have some of the toughest jobs in the whole health care system.”
– Dr. Cheryl Reinking (07:04)

6. Redesigning Nursing Career Pathways for the Future (08:34)

• Listening to nurses: New graduates seek flexible, rapid career advancement — including opportunities beyond patient care into education and advanced practice.
• Specialty transition programs: Enable nurses to explore roles like labor & delivery, cardiac cath lab, ED, and OR.
• Innovating float pool retention: Developing skillsets for float nurses encourages them to stay flexible, meeting system and individual needs.

Quote:
“Nurses who are just graduating want all kinds of flexible career paths... we've had nurses go into all kinds of different specialties... that helps them remain with us.”
– Dr. Cheryl Reinking (09:19)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the post-pandemic workforce:
  “Nursing turnover and retention of nurses in our industry in healthcare is a challenge, and especially so since the pandemic.”
  (01:34, Dr. Cheryl Reinking)

• On Gen Z development needs:
  “Nurses, especially from Gen Zs, appreciate having opportunities to grow and develop in their skills and knowledge.”
  (03:09, Dr. Cheryl Reinking)

• On workplace violence and de-escalation skills:
  “Workplace violence is a concern across our industry... we've recently put hundreds and hundreds of our nurses through training to learn motivational interviewing, trauma-informed care...”
  (05:59, Dr. Cheryl Reinking)

• On the critical role of nurse leaders:
  “Those nurse leaders, they are a very hardworking group and they have some of the toughest jobs in the whole health care system.”
  (07:25, Dr. Cheryl Reinking)

• On flexible career and float pool innovation:
  “If we provide opportunities to grow and develop skill sets within the float pool... they stay in the float pool and that allows us a lot more flexibility and it meets everyone's need.”
  (10:11, Dr. Cheryl Reinking)

Important Segments & Timestamps

• [01:34] – Strategic workforce challenges
• [02:34] – Launch and impact of the endowment
• [04:18] – Balancing short/long-term talent strategy
• [05:49] – Demand-driven nurse education and upskilling
• [07:04] – Professional growth & organizational performance link
• [08:34] – Future-focused nursing career pathways & innovation
• [10:11] – Float pool retention and flexibility strategies

Takeaways

• El Camino Health is proactively investing in nurse education, development, and leadership, using data-driven planning and real-time needs assessments.
• The Norman Melchor Nursing Excellence Endowment is a key lever for talent retention, nurturing both bedside nurses and unit leaders.
• Flexible career pathways, targeted upskilling, and new approaches to traditional nursing roles (like the float pool) are essential to attracting and retaining the next generation of nurses.
• Ongoing engagement with nurses to understand their needs and aspirations is vital for organizational success and patient outcomes.

Tone: The conversation is pragmatic, deeply empathetic to the realities of nursing today, and focused on innovation and resilience. Dr. Reinking stresses both the urgency of immediate workplace needs and the importance of long-term career development for nurses at every stage.