10 Ways Nurse Leaders Can Make Work Enjoyable for Staff

[Melissa Mills]

Being a nurse leader is stressful. You lead a team of nurses who have hard jobs. They deal with death and sadness on the daily. Oh, and let's not even start the discussion about staffing issues.

It may seem that every time you step out of your office, you are only there to deliver bad news. Well, let's change that (at least for today)!

Let's talk fun. Yes, fun and nursing do go together, it is just hard to remember it sometimes. Let's replenish your nurse leader "fun bucket" with some ideas to bring fun back to your unit!

HOW TO MAKE WORK FUN

1. Team Building Activities

Most people, will scrunch their noses up at the idea of playing games in meetings, but they work! Let's face it, your staff are busy and may find it hard to connect with other members of the team. Team building activities push their hand at learning more about the people they serve with every day.

2. Nurse Centered Culture

Do everything you can to make your unit about your nurses. They will appreciate it more than you may know. Plan events and be intentional in recognizing success both at work and in life.

3. Give Back as a Team

Nothing builds camaraderie quite like volunteering together. Here are few ideas:

Adopt-a-Family at Thanksgiving or Christmas - Find a local family that needs a little help during the holiday season. Create a fun bulletin board to list the items they need or decorate a tree with ornaments with gift ideas written on them. Let the staff buy gifts and then deliver them together to the family.

Health Fairs - Represent your hospital at the local health fair by organizing a small team of nurses to work together. You can provide health screenings and enjoy some stress-free time together as a team.

Support Others - Organize a team for a local 5K that aligns with your unit, such as a breast cancer walk for an oncology unit or diabetes walk for a clinic. Events like these allow your team to work together to raise awareness while building relationships.

4. Food

Nurses love food, this is no secret. And, you barely get it most days. So, organize a potluck once a month and let them eat!

5. Fun Awards

You don't have to be serious about stats and surveys all that time. Create some fun awards that you can give out at staff meetings. Here are a few creative ideas:

Flexibility Award - Got a nurse who will bend over backward to help others? Give him or her play-doh or a slinky.

Bright Idea - Foster creativity by asking for bright ideas. When you chose one, give them a pair of cheap and fun sunglasses for their "brightness."

Keep a running supply of sweets - Everyone having a rough day? Hand out a pack of lifesavers or crack open a bag of bite-size candy bars and add a little sweetness to their day.

6. Motivate

You don't have to have a meeting to offer encouragement. Hang motivational quotes around the nurse's station, in the staff bathroom, and on locker doors. Make sure to have a variety of fun, serious, and downright hysterical quotes to keep them smiling!

7. Celebrate

Don't miss the opportunity to celebrate with these lovely people. Have a list of birthdays and plan a monthly cake and ice cream day. If you have staff going back to school, getting married, or having babies: plan a celebration!

8. After Work Adventures

Yes, someone will always have to work in this crazy 24/7/365 world of yours, but that is no reason not to plan outings. Plan a trip to a local sporting event, casino, amusement park, or bowling alley. Whatever sounds like fun for the majority of your nurses, plan it.

Oh, and attend! Nurse leaders often feel like an outsider when staff gets together. The only person that can change that is YOU! Go with them. Get involved. Connect with these people that help you meet unit goals every day.

9. Build Community

Yes, you can recognize them all you like, and they will appreciate it. But, nothing says recognition quite like getting it from your peers. Facilitate their ability to thank one another with a simple "Pat on the Back" bulletin board.

Decorate a bulletin board. Cut out some brightly colored hand shapes, buy some fun colored pens and let them give each other a "pat on the back" that others can see. It will be everyone's favorite place to spend a few minutes each day for encouragement.

10. Ask for Feedback

No matter what activities you do, ask for their help and feedback. It is their unit too, and they can tell you what they like and don't like. You may even find that everyone participates more if you have a "Fun Committee" that plans activities for each shift.

Nurse leaders have stressful jobs and can get lost in the rules, data, and goals. Don't forget to have fun with your nurses. Do you have a great idea to share with other nurse leaders who need a new way to add fun to their unit? Share in the comments below and get the creative juices flowing!

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

You wouldn't have to do any of this nonsense if you had the staffing right. This is all just gimmicks of pulling wool over the eyes.

[pixierose, BSN, RN]

I also have 2 assistant NM and one NM. Ask me how many times I see any one of them (I work 5 8's a week by the way)....

My NM was "trying to reach me" via leaving me VM messages last night on my cell. All he had to do was walk 25 feet down the hall.

The disconnect between many nurse leaders and staff, aeb articles such as this and disappearing NM's such as mine, is the problem. Developing policies without feedback from staff (tough to do when you're never on the floor to begin with), advocating for events such as nights out when one feels they're constantly at work to begin with (I don't even get a dinner break with any of my shifts due to staffing, which my managers are well aware of) ... or team building when we already developed a team WITHOUT the team leaders because of necessity ... we don't need more positivity, we need team leaders that function. Doing your jobs would be an excellent start.

[maji2002]

I find it interesting that in nursing's quest to prove ourselves as a "profession" similar to engineers and the like, we try these tactics to improve morale. Do other "professions" do this as well, or do they not have morale issues like this? I have trouble seeing a group of engineers gleefully sporting dollar store sunglasses for submitting some new innovation, and feeling truly valued, motivated, and inspired. All of these seem disingenuous, juvenile, and placating to dodge the real issues. We need to rise up and make our voices heard to legislators, administrators and the public. It seems to be working for some of the teachers....

[Melissa Mills, BSN]

Thanks for the comments NightNerd! Cheesy awards still get the appreciate across. :)

[Melissa Mills, BSN]

But gah, I freeze when walking around a room trying to find someone who grew up halfway around the world or who might have a sister whose name starts with the letter "Z."

PixieRose - this made me chuckle! Yeah, I know that some people really do not like team building, but sometimes it is the only way to get everyone to contribute. But, I would say, given your sense of humor, you probably get to know others pretty easily. :). Thanks for the comments and the chuckles! ~Melissa

[Melissa Mills, BSN]

Thanks for your honesty Poneymom.

Melissa

[Nature_walker, ASN, BSN, RN]

Giving us food only works if you know how much staff you have. On the overnights we had management send up a build your own sandwich bar to reward us for how awful it has been recently. Only they ordered enough for 5 sandwiches....there was 7 staff, doc, nurses, and techs. It became the hunger games up in there. An email was sent by charge to tell them that they must have miscounted because there was not enough for everyone. So, to try to make it right they sent up 20 sandwiches, to the day staff. Nights got overlooked again. The fact that they didn't know how many of us there were and that they thought we had only 5 total was insulting. They make the schedule and tell us where we are so wouldn't they have known?

I'm a fan of them ordering food as a reward, but at least have enough for all. We already know we are short staffed, don't make it worse by having the few of us there fight over the food!

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

Team building the wrong way:

Games during a staff meeting.

Anything requiring people to reveal personal information about themselves.

After work events that you are not paid to attend and cost you money.

Team building the right way:

An all expense paid trip staff is paid to go on that is fun and involves teamwork like escape the room. With dinner afterward.

Do it right please.

[Ado Annie, ASN, RN]

You want me to be happy at work? Staff the unit correctly. Make sure I have the supplies and equipment we need. And deal with the pts and families that abuse us.

This.

Not that there's anything wrong with some of the ideas (recognition, fun times, celebrating milestones, maybe even volunteering together) but the real answer is just what you said.

While we're at it, please don't make me drive to work and give up free time for pointless stuff.