The goal of the Medical/Surgical Unit Team Nursing model was to maximize staff resources while delivering high quality patient care.

The development of the Medical/Surgical Unit Team Nursing model arose from the challenge of opening a new 172-bed hospital in a newly-developed community in the midst of a nursing shortage.  The CNO for the new hospital was hired two years before the new facility was built and tasked with developing the vision for a new model of care for the hospital. 

Recognizing that there were not going to be enough RNs in the long run, Banner looked for other staffing options.  In Arizona, LPNs have typically been used only in long term care and not so much in the acute care setting.  But there is a good supply of LPNs, and there was an LPN program in the community where the hospital was being built.  So, Banner Estrella Medical Center (BEMC) leaders decided to incorporate LPNs into their model.