If you love where you work . . . why?

[krenee]

We are supposed to be having an "employee satisfaction" meeting to come up with ideas to improve morale. Of course, ideas that don't cost money. Mine is that I want vacations approved in a timely manner. Right now they won't approve summer vacations (May through Sept) until April no matter what. I don't think that's enough notice, particularly if your vacation is in May or June. Other things, we would like the schedule out more than a week in advance, and possibly for a longer time period (right now it's a month). But I am open to other ideas. If you work in a great facility, what do they do that makes you feel valued as a nurse?

[All4NursingRN]

Speaking honestly,

On my shift morale is low in terms of how we view middle & upper management. As as group we work together great but there is very little appreciation for how hard we work.

The most we get is something for nurses week and a few thank you's from management here and there but those are surely followed by reprimands of all sorts.

[notjustanurse]

Well, I don't know that I LOVE the facility I work, but there are some things I like. Our vacations are approved (or not) about a week after we submit the request, first come, first served. Some of my vacations are scheduled almost a year in advance. We have some the best nurse-patient ratios I've ever come across and our management is very supportive as long as we can acurately document acuity. I'll try to think of others.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

my boss listens. She may not always agree with me (she cannot be right all the time!!) but she respects my opinion and of my colleagues.

[GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN]

i truly believe that i have found the facility that i'll be working till my retirement comes along. needless to say, i work in what i call the "eternal vacation state" which is hawaii, i have a strong voice which allows me to contribute to my nursing staff concerns during management & administration meetings. having said that, we might not always see eye to eye in any given subject however, we have learned to compromise in order to offer our staff a decent and fair place to work. needless to say, while being in management i keep my presence visual and my door open at all times. in addition, i listen carefully to the concerns of all of my staff and i make it a must to follow through with them, after meeting with my colleagues in upper management. granted, i have a strong motto that goes as follows "don't bring me any problems without a solution" let me explain if a nm or a particular staff nurse aren't getting along i don't allow them to say "she doesn't like me, or she doesn't listen" once we go over the problem on hand, them we move to the solution presented by both parties involved. i'm a firm believer that this promotes critical thinking on everyone's part. wishing you the best always....aloha~

[MN-Nurse, ASN, RN]

If you work in a great facility, what do they do that makes you feel valued as a nurse?

They provide excellent resources and training.

They hire associate degree nurses.

They pay me well, including very good compensation and bonuses for OT shifts.

They provide decent health insurance and benefits.

They provide bonuses for certifications (certs that they paid for).

They provide a generous annual education reimbursement. ($3500 a year).

There are many opportunities for advancement.

There is unlimited opportunity to learn.

They participate in practice changing research and try to apply updated policies and procedures often.

They constantly attempt to upgrade and improve equipment and IT resources.

Some of the above is the result of a very good union, but my employer also deserves credit where it is due.

[nursynurseRN]

I love my hospital because:

Self scheduling

Vacation anytime

Works well while in school

Coworkers are fun

Plenty of help for the floor

Tuition reinbursment

[Gold_SJ]

I love my ward because:

We have a great team and all do our best to support one another and boost morale.

I work independantly, it's a RN/CN to the ward a shift (Plus an EEN (LPN) if the staff/patient ratio is high)

We do self rostering, so pretty much get majority, if not all the shifts off for special occasions we request.

I work with children (how can I not enjoy that? ^.^ )

There's reasonable amounts of downtime to work on education.

The Paediatricians are great to work with.

There's always backup if things go to chaos. Whether the MET team, Nurse manager, Clinical Nurse Consultant, Paediatrican, Security, Nurse unit Manager or even co-staff who are happy for you to contact them in regard to a problem.

We work together on solutions, if we have differing opinons we'll often find a middle ground.

Overall I'm blessed to be in the ward I am. There's always things not perfect, or we could improve on, but what I listed definately make me happy to turn up to work each day.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

There are things about my job I don't like. But the things I love are:

No nights.

No weekends.

No holidays.

We are commanded to a take a full 30 minute lunch break (a real first in my career).

Am PRN and dictate when I will work.

Docs are nice.

Patients and families mostly very well behaved.

Most nurses are team oriented (with only a couple of notable exceptions).

Occasionally benefit from nice lunches from product reps.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

I love where I work because my manager gets rid of the toxic people and is picky about who gets hired being a good fit for the team.

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

The three things employees care about most are their schedule, family, and pay. If management respects those concerns things go much better. I agree that the vacation policy affects family time. How can you plan a vacation on short notice? We had some similar issues where I used to work and led me to look for a new job. My new employer is vastly easier to work for in these regards and I'm much happier. Changing policies is hardest where policies are the worst. That's because they have no interest in making things better, just keeping the status quo.

[GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN]

i love my hospital because:

self scheduling

vacation anytime

works well while in school

coworkers are fun

plenty of help for the floor

tuition reinbursment

congratulations unquestionably, you have found what every staff nurse would indicate in their dream job.