New Jersey has a 16-year history of proposed legislative issues regarding mandated nurse to patient standards. Seven years ago, the ONL NJ Advocacy Committee established the Nursing Workplace Environment Commission as a holistic approach to improve the work environment for the nurse at the bedside beyond staffing ratios. A blueprint for an overarching structure that provides oversight, education, communication, research and publication of healthy work environments action and results evolved. The Nursing Workplace Environment and Staffing Council (NWESC) was born.

The NWESC Vision is "New Jersey nurses will be recognized as the leaders in creating and sustaining a healthy work environment for its workforce through an overarching formal structure and process that supports collaborative learning and practice." The NWESC Mission Statement is "to engage nurses in promoting and sustaining a healthy workforce and environment." The maiden cohort of NWESC was launched in October 2017. The ninth cohort is scheduled to begin in October 2024. NWESC has grown from nine pilot hospitals to 48 hospitals in NJ.

Please join us for the fourth annual NWESC Statewide Retreat as we gather to celebrate this worthy effort, share accomplishments, best practices, lessons learned, challenges and future directions. This is a unique opportunity to network with other NWESC members from across the state.