Recent Articles
Nurses use artistic talents to improve patient experience and hospital atmosphere
This past summer, nurses Mary Cohn and Annette Bargmann of Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) in Parole, MD, visited patient rooms armed not with medication, but with acrylic paint.
AAMC is undergoing a series of renovations that have necessitated many windows in the acute care pavilion being covered with a film to darken the windows toshield patients from the occasional glare of the construction equipment and provide more privacy. This film has replaced the natural light flooding into patient rooms and has created a gloomy atmosphere. [more]
Mercy: An in or out for nurses and their image?
Last night was the season premiere of NBC’s new nursing series; Mercy and we want to know what you thought.
Many nurses hoped this show would be different from Showtimes’ Nurse Jackie and TNT’s HawthoRNe. But as I read more and more comments on NBC’s Web site from viewers who watched last night’s premiere, it seems that this show is off to a rough start. [more]
Will new television series Mercy shine a different light on nursing image?
As this summer’s new nursing series: Nurse Jackie and HawthoRNe have reached their season’s end, it’s time for a new fall series to pick up; Mercy.
Mercy debuts tonight on NBC at 8pm EST and hopes to change the way nurses are portrayed on television. What makes this series different than Nurse Jackie and HawthoRNe, is that writers for Mercy have been using an RN consultant when it comes to developing story ideas and script reviews for the series.
It’s All a Matter of Perspective
Peter Druker, often called the Father of Modern Management, made the following observation, “We spend a lot of time teaching managers what to do. We don’t spend enough time teaching them what to stop. Half the leaders I’ve met don’t need to learn what to do – they need to learn what to stop.” We simply need to adjust our perspective.
Keeping that in mind, an executive coach named Marshall Goldsmith wrote a book in 2007 called What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: 20 Workplace Habits You Need To Break. I recommend this book for your Fall reading list! It’s a chapter by chapter in-depth look at each of the 20 habits we should get rid of as we advance in workplace leadership. Goldsmith offers numerous stories from his own career and his executive coaching experiences to illustrate each habit and keep the content ‘moving along’.
Here is the list of 20 habits. Interestingly, they’re not reflective of a flaw in managerial skills. Nor do these habits reflect a shortcoming in intelligence or a personality flaw. All of them are indicative of challenges in interpersonal behavior. It may take reading the books’ descriptions to gain the right perspective and apply it to your own leadership skill mix, but here they are for your consideration:
- Winning too much
- Adding too much value
- Passing judgment
- Making destructive comments
- Starting with “No”, “But”, or “However”
- Telling the world how smart we are
- Speaking when angry
- “Let me explain why that won’t work…”
- Withholding information
- Failing to give proper recognition
- Claiming credit we don’t deserve
- Making excuses
- Clinging to the past
- Playing favorites
- Refusing to express regret
- Not listening
- Failing to express gratitude
- Punishing the messenger
- Passing the buck
- An excessive need to be “me”
Goldsmith, M. (2007). What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: 20 Workplace Habits You Need To Break. Hyperion: NYC.
Why the public image of nursing is important
The image of nursing is important. Public image creates a frame-work by which others approach nursing as a profession, as well as each nurse individually. Image influences patient safety, resource allocation, public policy, recruitment into the profession, and other issues that have far-reaching consequences.
This is an exciting time in healthcare. Never before has the role of the nurse been so pivotal to our patients, our employing agencies, or our profession. While the issues we face in healthcare are critical, we are an industry in flux. Presenting a balanced view of the nurse’s role and contribution to healthcare is essential. The impact of nursing’s images comes to bear in several important ways.
Pandemic preparation: How to prepare for swine flu
As the fall and winter months approach, hospitals are gearing up for more than the average flu season. Officials are predicting that the outbreak of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, will hit the country much harder than in the spring and that as many as half the population may become infected.
The Washington Post reports the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology has warned that as many as 1.8 million people could be hospitalized by the H1N1 virus, causing as many as 90,000 deaths. The 86-page report offers guidance on the nation’s response to the first influenza pandemic in 41 years. [more]
New nursing programs geared towards preparing and retaining nurses
Studies show that up to 60% of new nurse graduates leave their first job within their first year, and many hospitals are focusing on ways to help new nurses through the difficult transition from nursing school to novice nurse to competent, confident practitioner.
Rapid City (SD) Regional Hospital is one such facility looking to help its new grads succeed and remain with the organization. The hospital hires an average of 100 nurse graduates every year, but within two years, 25% of those nurses are no longer with the facility. With the help of a recent grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Regional Hospital has launched a two-part program to provide guidance to the new nurses. [more]
Re-Recruiting for Retention!
A national survey done by Kepner-Tregow (a Princeton-based management consulting firm) found only 40% of workers feel adequately recognized at work, yet it’s been estimated that U. S. companies spend ~ $18 billion annually for recognition incentives (Ventrice, 2003). Apparently employees desire something different from what their organization offers.
An excellent form of recognition is “re-recruitment”, an easy activity for any leader to accomplish. Here are some tips on how to accomplish it:
1. Think about your best staff member. Now imagine he or she is coming to see you today. What would you do or say if he said he was leaving? Do those things anyway.
2. When you’re in the unit chatting with your staff, periodically ask questions such as, “If you could make any changes about your job, what would they be?”, or “What things about your job do you hope never change?” Another excellent question to ask is, “What makes for a great day?”
3. Use 30 / 60 / 90 day retention interviews. These face-to-face meetings help solidify retention of your newest staff members. Ask if the job is what they expected from the interview. Also ask if they’ve noted anything that could be done better – new eyes always have keen perspective, plus you may gain an improved way to accomplish something you’ve been struggling with! Finally, ask what has been the greatest and most frustrating thing they’ve discovered. Use their positive comments to give KUDOs to staff who are doing a great job and their frustrating situations to make changes.
Remember, in the current competitive employment environment, other employers are interested in recruiting your best people! The best retention strategy is to re-recruit them yourself and beat the competition to the punch!
Ventrice, C. (2003) Make Their Day! Employee Recognition That Works. Berrett-Koehler: San Francisco
Strategize Now To Minimize Economic Effects
Greg Smith is a motivational and leadership speaker, and a management consultant. Greg is CEO of Chart Your Course International in Atlanta. He has published several books and articles about employee engagement and retention.
I was reading a blog by Greg regarding the current state of the economy and how surprising it is that some leaders simply hope things will turn around instead of strategizing ways to minimize or eliminate the effect the economy can have on employee retention. Here are 6 things to consider:
1. Assess your talent.
What can be done to improve staff’s skills your department needs in the current economy?
2. Work on employee engagement.
Do you have a way to capture your staff’s ideas and suggestions?
3. Build closer relationships with customers.
Do you know what your patients & families really want from your department?
4. Evaluate your department’s culture.
Is it focused on agility & flexibility? Is the vision statement relevant to your staff?
5. Build trust among staff.
What can you do to improve communication? Does your staff trust upper management?
6. Retain your superstars.
Do you have established retention plans for the people you know you need to keep?
Based on Have You Lost Your Way? Six things You Need To Do Now. Smith, G. (2009)
By the way, you can sign up for Greg’s FREE Navigator newsletter (full of timely tips) here: http://www.chartcourse.com/
Just scroll to the bottom of the page.
‘Nurse of the Year’ winner arrested for being fake nurse
In 2008, guests attended a fancy dinner honoring the Connecticut Nursing Association’s Nurse of the Year. The only problem was, the woman wasn’t a nurse at all.
This week, a bizarre news story broke after Betty Lichtenstein was charged with pretending to be a nurse. Following a patient complaint, investigators discovered Lichtenstein, who worked as a nurse in a Connecticut doctor’s office, had no nursing license. Lichtenstein is being charged with reckless endangerment and criminal impersonation. She had been dispensing medications and giving medical advice at the neurologist’s office where she worked.
According to the arrest warrant, she reportedly paid for the 2008 event out of her own money and prosecutor’s say the organization does not even exist. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison.
What is your reaction to this story?
Source: ABClocal.com
