advice: tout your own horn!!!

[IHeartPeds87]

Hi everyone. I have realized something that I thought I would share. Maybe it will help someone reading this, and they won't wait as long as I did to do this!

I am currently an aide with hopes of becoming a nurse, but this advice can be for aides, lpns, RN's, whoever in the field of nursing.

Nursing is a subjective job, and as such I truly feel that it is exceptionally difficult to truly judge one's competency. Also, due to the nature of the job a lot of times the positive things that you do don't really come out. Your supervisor may never learn of the 'extra miles' you go through. This is especially true of positions where your supervisor is not always around to see your work (home health, night shifts, etc).

I mean think about it. In a field like business or engineering there is concrete proof of somebody being an asset to their company (saving the company x amount of money, completing a specific project). It's not like that in nursing, because of the subjectivity of the job.

So what is the advice? Tout your own horn.

What I mean, is be conscious of your career reputation and collect concrete evidence of your positive qualities. I mean, like if a patient or a family member compliments you saying "you are great" or "I sleep better when you are here" or something along those lines, I used too smile and say thank you. Now, however, I smile, say thank you, and say something along the lines of "If you are truly happy with the care I am providing, the nicest thing you can do for me is write a note to my supervisor." The person doesn't always do this, but sometimes they do. Some may not write a note but do let my supervisor know.

If a family member or patient has repeatedly shown approval of my care giving skills, I will not hesitate to ask them if I could use them as a reference. I keep copies of thank you notes that I receive and give a copy to my supervisor. I take note of these compliments and let my supervisor know when we do an evaluation.

I think that if most people are happy with the care you are providing, they want to thank you and don't think/it doesn't occur to them to let your supervisor know.

I'm not saying "be cocky" but I am saying to be confident and to understand that "selling care giving skills" is different than more objective skills. For a really long time I was too humble and not one to "tout my own horn." Guess what? My supervisors didn't think that I was humble, they just didn't truly know the good work I was doing. So now I tell them. I would rather they think I was a little pushy and them know what good work I'm doing than otherwise.

I wish I had known this earlier, so I thought I'd share.....

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

I agree to a point. It takes confidence to be a nurse and your job has a lot of unrewarding moments. It is like being a soldier. "Outsiders" do not really understand your role, but you know if you are doing a good job or not and should be proud.

BTW, horns toot, not tout. So toot, and toot for other nurses while you are at it!

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

I would be careful using patient thank you notes as references. That could be a HIPPA violation.

Yes, nurses are not ones to blow their own horns. I think for the most part, we are a humble lot.

I don't need management to pat me on the back to know I'm doing a good enough job. If kudo's come my way (and at times they do) I smile and say thank you.

[bsyrn, ASN, RN]

I would be careful using patient thank you notes as references. That could be a HIPPA violation.

Why would this be a HIPAA violation....I am not criticizing, just curious

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

I would be careful using patient thank you notes as references. That could be a HIPPA violation.

Why would this be a HIPAA violation....I am not criticizing, just curious

If you took these notes to other employers? Doesn't it show patient names? In our facility it is a violation of HIPPA if I open up a summary of a patient that I have no contact with, or a co worker that comes into the hospital and I look up their information.

I guess I would be uncomfortable taking these notes out of the facility to show people who were not involved in this persons care.

[IHeartPeds87]

I would be careful using patient thank you notes as references. That could be a HIPPA violation.

Yes, nurses are not ones to blow their own horns. I think for the most part, we are a humble lot.

I don't need management to pat me on the back to know I'm doing a good enough job. If kudo's come my way (and at times they do) I smile and say thank you.

I wouldn't use patient thank you notes as references, but I have asked patients/families if it was okay to USE THEM as a reference for another job sometime in the future. I work home health. If they don't want me to too, I don't but I ask now.

As for not needing management to pat you on the back to know you are doing a good job, I don't NEED that either. I am confident in my own abilities. This isn't about needing kudos from management.

This is about communicating to management the positive things that you are doing. There is a system in place for communicating negative things that happen (errors, etc). There is no true system or method to bring up the positive things that happen without feeling like you are "tooting your own horn" and I think that by getting over the weird feeling of doing that, my supervisor is better informed of the level of care I am providing. I think it is in the benefit of management to know what is going on- negative AND positive. My supervisor has told me that since learning how happy patient's families' are with me, they rest better and are more confident when I am working, knowing that they don't have to worry. This is my career and the fact is to move up, get a raise, etc, I think that you should let management know if patients are happy with your work. Like I said, I work home health and so my supervisor doesn't SEE me at work. I realize that not every nursing or aide situation is like this, but a lot of them are. A lot of night shift workers rarely will see management. You bet that a negative situation would be communicated, and I am getting over the 'weirdness' factor of communicating the positive for the sake of my career and hopes to move up and maintain a good reputation with the company I work for.

That's my :twocents:

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

Home health would be a different situation. I would let my manager know that my families were happy with my care.

IMO, for me, if my manager asks how things are going, I will let him know how I handled a bad situation. But for me, I just can't run up to him and tell him how great I did something. Usually in our facilities, things like this get noticed. We have a caught in the act form that you can fill out for another employee. They get used frequently. I keep mine on my bulletin board at home. :)

[GM2RN]

I wouldn't use patient thank you notes as references, but I have asked patients/families if it was okay to USE THEM as a reference for another job sometime in the future. I work home health. If they don't want me to too, I don't but I ask now.

As for not needing management to pat you on the back to know you are doing a good job, I don't NEED that either. I am confident in my own abilities. This isn't about needing kudos from management.

This is about communicating to management the positive things that you are doing. There is a system in place for communicating negative things that happen (errors, etc). There is no true system or method to bring up the positive things that happen without feeling like you are "tooting your own horn" and I think that by getting over the weird feeling of doing that, my supervisor is better informed of the level of care I am providing. I think it is in the benefit of management to know what is going on- negative AND positive. My supervisor has told me that since learning how happy patient's families' are with me, they rest better and are more confident when I am working, knowing that they don't have to worry. This is my career and the fact is to move up, get a raise, etc, I think that you should let management know if patients are happy with your work. Like I said, I work home health and so my supervisor doesn't SEE me at work. I realize that not every nursing or aide situation is like this, but a lot of them are. A lot of night shift workers rarely will see management. You bet that a negative situation would be communicated, and I am getting over the 'weirdness' factor of communicating the positive for the sake of my career and hopes to move up and maintain a good reputation with the company I work for.

That's my :twocents:

I see nothing wrong with this, and agree that there is more of a process in place for negative feedback than positive. I also see this as potentially being proactive to protect yourself against the time when that one unhappy patient makes an unsubstantiated complaint (as is being discussed in another thread right now). With many positive letters and comments about one's care, it makes it much easier for management to side with the nurse than the patient in a case like that.

[HealthyNurse]

I agree with the overall idea behind your post. I think that most nurses are humble and modest about the important work that they do and what they contribute to health care delivery. But I disagree that nursing is subjective as you indicate in your post. I'm a state surveyor and I've worked in quality and education in the past. Nursing care can be, and certainly is, evaluated in an objective manner and there is indeed concrete proof about the value that a nurse can add to a health care organization. This proof exists in the outcomes that patients demonstrate. There are many quality of care measures that nursing has a direct impact on. You should explore the National Quality Forum (http://www.qualityforum.org/Home.aspx) to learn more about this.

I understand that you may be trying to say that there is sometimes an intangible value that nursing adds to the care of a patient. This may be reflected in the "soft" side in nursing- providing comfort, compassion, dignity, etc. These are all really important aspects of patient care and they shouldn't be forgotten. There is something to be said for patients that are grateful for the care that you provide. However, I would also caution you that I've seen lots and lots of nurses and aides that are adored by their patients- but that doesn't always mean that they are providing the best care or that they are even competent in their roles. It is much more important that the care that is being provided is done appropriately and according to standards of care. I do think that those that choose this line of work should also be able to relate well with others and demonstrate compassion. I'm not trying to belittle those characteristics, but this is where nursing has gotten into trouble in the past. There is much more to nursing than just "caring" about others. Nursing is a highly technical field that requires a great deal of specialized knowledge. Nursing care can be measured and there is a tangible value to it.

[IHeartPeds87]

I agree with the overall idea behind your post. I think that most nurses are humble and modest about the important work that they do and what they contribute to health care delivery. But I disagree that nursing is subjective as you indicate in your post. I'm a state surveyor and I've worked in quality and education in the past. Nursing care can be, and certainly is, evaluated in an objective manner and there is indeed concrete proof about the value that a nurse can add to a health care organization. This proof exists in the outcomes that patients demonstrate. There are many quality of care measures that nursing has a direct impact on. You should explore the National Quality Forum (http://www.qualityforum.org/Home.aspx) to learn more about this.

I understand that you may be trying to say that there is sometimes an intangible value that nursing adds to the care of a patient. This may be reflected in the "soft" side in nursing- providing comfort, compassion, dignity, etc. These are all really important aspects of patient care and they shouldn't be forgotten. There is something to be said for patients that are grateful for the care that you provide. However, I would also caution you that I've seen lots and lots of nurses and aides that are adored by their patients- but that doesn't always mean that they are providing the best care or that they are even competent in their roles. It is much more important that the care that is being provided is done appropriately and according to standards of care. I do think that those that choose this line of work should also be able to relate well with others and demonstrate compassion. I'm not trying to belittle those characteristics, but this is where nursing has gotten into trouble in the past. There is much more to nursing than just "caring" about others. Nursing is a highly technical field that requires a great deal of specialized knowledge. Nursing care can be measured and there is a tangible value to it.

I know that nursing is a very technical field, is much more than just caring, and requires a lot of knowledge. Those are part of my own reasons for wanting to become a nurse.

Let me rephrase my use of the term subjective, and say rather that customer service is a part of life for healthcare worker, and especially for nurses and aides/auxillary staff. All I was saying is that it is unfortunate that mostly complaints from patients/families get communicated to supervisors, partly due to the part of nursing that is subjective (in the eyes of a patient/family). For example, a patient may report to your supervisor that you are "slow" to get him ice chips or whatever (as an example). All I'm saying, is that if a patient on the flip side thinks that you are "quick" to do this work, THAT will rarely get communicated to your supervisor and I think it should be! Of course, this is a very very dumbed down example, but you get my drift!