How often does the CNO address nurses? Why? How?

[Graduatenurse14]

At my hospital the CNO address nurses at the orientation for new hires with ALL other new hires from the entire hospital all in a big auditorium and that's it.

I'm not kidding.

I've been there since November 2014 and that's the only time. No emails, no newsletters, no texts, no robocalls. I've never see her on my unit nor have other nurses who I've asked on other units.

Nada, nothing, nunca.

Shockingly, we are a very dysfunctional hospital with issues hiring and retaining nurses as well as staffing issues.

I work at a 640-bed Urban Level 1 Trauma/Academic/Teaching Hospital so she's very busy but it's like she doesn't even exist.

I am interested to hear how your CNO/CNE interacts with nurses. How frequently? About what? Does it help with morale, cohesiveness, retention, staffing? Is it authentic or going through the motions?

Do you think there is anything nurses can do? Should nurses reach out to her asking her to communicate with us? Tell the COO (her boss) that nurses need lead from our Nursing Leader?

I've experienced this type of thing before as my first career was teaching and there were building principals who were very out of touch as they never left their office and you only heard from them if there was an issue. Then there were the other principals who were all over the school talking to kids, teachers, outside talking to parents at the start/end of the day, coming out at recess, having open door policy with teachers and students. You can guess where the overall better atmosphere was and generally happier teachers, parents and students.

I never felt compelled to reach out to one of the out of touch principals but I feel it now as a nurse and I'm not sure why but I do.

[Pat_Pat RN]

I work in a very small hospital, and don't see ours that often either...

[OlivetheRN, ADN, BSN, RN]

Oddly, I hear from and see our President much more than I see our VP of Nursing (essentially our CNO in the grand scheme of things in the hospital system hierarchy). I also find him to be much more approachable, but that likely has to do with the fact that he's been in the hospital longer, and as I said, I see him more frequently. Hell, I had to go through my work email just now to even remember who our CNO is and then remember that she isn't even titled as such.

With that being said, we do hear from her and the pres and see them on a fairly regular basis. We get a weekly email from the el presidente with patient feedback and stuff going on in the hospital. Stuff from the VP of nursing is about practice changes or a lot of it lately has been about the EMR conversion. I think it is authentic. We've always been a close knit hospital, even after we became part of a larger system, and that's apparent even in the way that administration interacts with the staff.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Our upper leadership is VERY active in our organization. I've only been at my facility for under three years, and I've personally met our CNO and had a conversation three times.

[whichone'spink, BSN, RN]

The VP of Nursing had her office on the floor I used to work on, so I would often have lunch with her. She wrote a letter of recommendation for me when I applied for graduate school. Sadly, very sadly, she took another position elsewhere. Was it forced, I don't know.

[noyesno, MSN, APRN, NP]

Four times a year, there is mandatory meetings with the CNO. You usually have to come on your day off to attend. Every time, it is a frustrating waste of time. Other than that, I don't really see this individual.

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

We see our cno all the time. She was an er nurse so she comes to visit often.

[Boomer MS, RN]

We see our cno all the time. She was an er nurse so she comes to visit often.

How nice!

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

I see my (acting) CNO several times a month...during contract negotiations.

That alone will tell you about the leadership at my hospital.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

She came around to each unit pushing a cart of goodies a couple times a week for an entire month...right before the RN satisfaction survey deadline...a question on which was "Isyour CNO accessible to bedside staff?"

Never saw saw her before or since.

[CelticGoddess, BSN, RN]

I've seen my CNO exactly 0 times. I have gotten e-mails from her (Mass emails at that). I could walk past her and not even know it was her.

At my previous facility, I saw the CNO 3 times in two years. Once when I had to talk to her and my manager about another nurse diverting, once when I ran into her in the cafeteria getting breakfast, and when I put in my notice. (She was in my managers office). She's a nice lady but very out of touch with the floor nurses.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I saw my former CNO at least once or twice weekly when I did inpatient bedside nursing. However, this was a small 60-bed specialty hospital, so nursing administration's presence would be more visible in a facility of that size.