The annual American Organization for Nursing Leadership conference is a high-impact event where nurse leaders and educators come together to empower the future of nursing.
At AONL 2025, Larissa Africa, Vice President at Ascend Learning Healthcare Workforce Solutions, and Jenna Lloyd Fisher, Vice President of Clinical Excellence, delivered an energizing talk on leveraging technology and data to retain and support today’s nursing workforce. Watch the full recording of the education expo to learn firsthand from our experts.
Here's a look back at the key takeaways from their session at the Education Expo, where healthcare industry leaders hosted educational sessions on the key issues challenging nurse leaders today.
Larissa opened by highlighting a shared truth: “the solutions that we used to use with these problems—they’re no longer sufficient.We can’t keep using the same solutions in our new healthcare environment.”
From nurse shortages to burnout, retention, and onboarding, the system is overdue for a transformation. That’s where StaffGarden by AscendLearning comes in.
The mission? Empower nurses to thrive by:
• Digitizing clinical ladders and competency management
• Streamlining onboarding and transition-to-practice programs
• Creating visible, data-driven pathways for professional growth
One standout message was the importance of early exposure. Larissa encouraged the audience to connect with middle and high school students to plant the seed for a healthcare career before it’s too late.
Many students aren’t aware of the opportunities available in nursing— “students can only be what they can see. If they can’t see that pathway, they’re never going to be introduced to healthcare.”
Too many organizations still rely on outdated methods—paper checklists, Excel spreadsheets, manual updates—to manage competencies. But asLarissa noted, it’s time to move on from procedure-based checklists because “we’re not giving our nurses credit for the things they already know. Once they’re ready for practice, let’s not hold them back.”
“Your data is essentially dead if you’re managing it on paper or in Excel,” Jenna corroborated.
The key to making the transition is a robust, tech-supported clinical competency framework that:
• Standardizes evaluation across systems
• Provides real-time visibility into workforce readiness
• Supports faster, tailored onboarding based on existing skills
Jenna walked through the StaffGarden platform to show how it gives healthcare leaders full visibility into their team's clinical ladder progress, competencies, and certifications in real time. The goal is “to make it easier to do the right thing—easy to know what you need to accomplish in your daily work, and put it in a place where it’s accessible.”
The benefits are powerful:
• Objective, bias-free review processes
• Seamless HR integration for ladder promotions
• Easy tracking of ADN/BSN/MSN metrics for Magnet reporting
• Streamlined clinician experience with clear steps and feedback
And the payoff?
Jenna shared compelling data that shows nurses on a clinical ladder have significantly lower turnover— “each year they stay, participation goes up—especially at the 5-to-10-year mark. That’s where your most committed nurses are.”
“We do know that ladders increase retention—and that directly saves your organization money,” Jenna said. “For every 1% increase in retention, that saves the healthcare system a couple hundred thousand dollars.”
Both speakers emphasized that digitizing isn’t just about going paperless—it’s about gaining line-of-sight. Whether you’re managing competencies, tracking ladder engagement, or aligning onboarding with staffing needs, having the right data at your fingertips empowers you to make smart, fast, and informed decisions.
Jenna explained that “when you digitize, we have the ability to put this in dashboards so that you're able to see exactly what your unit looks like, exactly what your team looks like, how to reach out and coach and bring them forward.”
Healthcare leaders are ready for better tools—and nurses are hungry for purpose, support, and growth. Ascend Learning’s integrated approach is helping organizations move from isolated, manual processes to a seamless, circular model of workforce development.
If you’re still managing ladders or competencies with paper or spreadsheets, it’s time for a change. Let’s make it easier to do the right thing: give nurses the clarity, tools, and support they deserve.
Watch the full recording of the education expo to learn firsthand from our experts.
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