AACN's Standards for Healthy Work Environments

[iyqyqr]

In 2001 AACN made a commitment to actively promote the creation of healthy work environments that support and foster excellence in patient care wherever acute and critical care nurse's practice. I downloaded from the AACN web site a copy of these standards, copyright is 2005. They recently sent me a survey so I could tell them how my unit is doing to fulfil these standards. I'm curious as to how much you all have heard about HWE and what your unit does to address these 6 essential standards. They are well worth the read!! EG. If a doctor yells at you or treats you in a disrespectful manner, do you have a process to report this AND is it addressed? Or if you routinely have concerns about staffing, do you have a form to report it or do you just "grit and bear it"? I wasn't really aware of these standards, found them on my own. Am I just 'out to lunch' or are others not aware,also????

[BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN]

I've never heard of it. What are the standards.

[iyqyqr]

The six standards for establishing and sustaining healthy work enviroments are:1. Skilled Communication: Nurses must be as proficient in communication as they are in clinical skills.2. True Collaboration: Nurses must be relentless in pursuing and fostering true collaboration.3. Effective Decision Making: Nurses must be valued and committed partners in making policy, directing and evaluating clinical care and leading organizational operations. 4. Appropriate Staffing: Staffing must ensure the effective match between patient needs and nurse competencies. 5. Meaningful Recognition: Nurses must be recognized and must recognize others for the value each brings to the work of the organization.6. Authentic Leadership: Nurse leaders must fully embrace the imperative of a healthy work environment, authentically live it and engage others in its achievement. If you go to www. AACN.org and click on Clinical Practice in the heading, you will see Healthy Work Environments on the list. Click on it and you will have the choice of viewing and printing either the 44 page complete version or the 9 page Executive summary. The elements written under each Standard as to what it should look like in the workplace are thought provoking. Also worth a read is the President's Theme which is listed below HWE.

[BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN]

Okay, you refreshed my memory, we had to meet those for our Magnet Status. It all looks great on paper, but it goes to the way side until it time to renew our status. Don't get me wrong, we had a lot of improvements to our hospital with this, but it tends to be slacked off on after a while.