Management put up a kudos board. Imagine, if you will, the kindergarten style chart with happy faces. Basically when management did their interviews of all staff(now done monthly in an effort to increase employee satisfaction), they asked if any coworker was especially helpful or good at what they do. If you were mentioned at all, your name is on there with a smiley face for each mention. Of course this wasn't great for people not mentioned at all. Not that everyone should get a smiley face just because(eyeroll), but I think their good intentions ended up being competitive, infantile, and demoralizing.

We used to have boards with blank pieces of paper the staff or patients could write positive comments on and post, which I think was a better approach.

What does your management do to try to formally recognize you in a positive way and is it effective or not?

I've never liked Kudos Boards. In theory, every nurse who goes out of her way to help a patient should get a Kudo. But it doesn't work that way. The same people get Kudos frequently and other, equally good and caring nurses, never get mentioned. It can be quite demoralizing if you're in the "never" group. Why does it have to be public anyway? I know I would feel just as good if I got a private note from my manager stating "Pt Suzy Q said you went above and beyond in caring for her." I don't have to have recognition posted for all to see.

Once a year we get a handwritten note from our manager during our "employee appreciation week". Everyone gets the same generic phrasing. Kinda pointless

When I worked in the hospital, they did nothing. If you didn't scan a high enough percentage of your meds, your name got highlighted and posted in the nurses' room though saying that you weren't good enough though.

When I worked in the hospital, they did nothing. If you didn't scan a high enough percentage of your meds, your name got highlighted and posted in the nurses' room though saying that you weren't good enough though.

I always thought it was tacky to post things like that in the break room. We also get posted for things that we have due like flu shots or TB tests, etc. Sorry, but that's lazy management and, frankly, nobody else's business!

Basic motivational psychology - when you 'reward' an act, you are basically saying 'this is what it's worth'. It diminishes the act itself into a simple transaction. Alfie Kohn wrote a wonderful book Punished by Rewards that does a really great job of explaining this whole concept. Basically, the best way to encourage good behavior is by acknowledging that behavior in an authentic way. Nurses have been shown to respond very well to acknowledgement from people that they respect. This means saying "I wanted to let you know how much I appreciated your quick thinking to bring extra warm blankets down to the ED when the mass casualty started arriving"..... NOT pasting stickers on a board or amassing 'KUDOS' points to trade for merchandise.

Another concept that is widely ignored in healthcare. There are 3 types of communications between supervisors and subordinates: positive, neutral or negative (corrective). In order to build a supportive relationship, no more than 1/3 of communications should be negative...... how does this stack up with your boss? For many of us, the only time they acknowledge us is when they are pointing out something we did wrong.

If we only had competent managers . . . things would be soooo different.

I always thought it was tacky to post things like that in the break room. We also get posted for things that we have due like flu shots or TB tests, etc. Sorry, but that's lazy management and, frankly, nobody else's business!

It reminded me of 1st grade. If you were bad you had to write your name on the board. That's what it felt like. Glad I don't work in that kind of environment anymore.

Pizza parties for good outcomes!!!

Some nurses love these parties, I find them kind of insulting. Other professionals are rewarded monetarily. We get pizza or sometimes candy!

We have a board like this too. It has always kindof bothered me. I am less than a year as a nurse. And i get many verbal words of gratitude from patients, which makes me remember why i do this. One day i got one of the special cards from a patient, getting the "formal" recognition. Our manager sends bimonthly emails quoting these cards, and in addition they go on the board. Well mine was never mentioned, and it's always the same names on the email. Then i noticed that the same patient wrote a card for another nurse, which was up there on the board. Mine is no where to be found. I know this sounds like i am trying to be a victim, but i have always just wondered if this was all just a rigged deck.

I know the patients gratitude itself is the reward, i just was always wondering why mine was left out, even despite my manager mentioning mine in my private eval...i dont know, just kinda bugs...

Pizza parties for good outcomes!!!

Some nurses love these parties, I find them kind of insulting. Other professionals are rewarded monetarily. We get pizza or sometimes candy!

Nice idea, but who has time to eat pizza while working...or who wants to eat pizza that's been sitting out for hours after being picked over by everyone? Not this nurse.

Nice idea, but who has time to eat pizza while working...or who wants to eat pizza that's been sitting out for hours after being picked over by everyone? Not this nurse.

Well and if you just leave it out for the grabbing, all the likes of medical students, residents and everyone else who walks through just helps themselves to it too...

Mostly everyone I work with hate Kudos boards, pizza parties, and birthday greetings. As previously noted it is all very insulting and childish. Nurses day activities are equally stupid. Treat us like humans, listen to our side once in a while, pay us a decent salary so we can buy our own pizza. Sorry if I sound bitter, luckily retirement is close.

Our system does something called "Tanner bucks". You can get them for being mentioned by patient on a survey or to a nurse manager or can be given them by higher up's who see you "in the act of caring". You can use them to buy stuff in the Tanner store or trade them in for PTO time if you have enough.