Lessons From the Super Bowl

[Guttercat]

After this weekend's Superbowl smackdown of the Denver Broncos, a lot of coaches, teams, team owners and team managers around the country are sitting around flabbergasted, with their thumbs up their backsides, and wondering how to replicate the success of the Seattle Seahawks--a team made up of free agents and "nobody wanted" draft picks. Heck, Coleman (the deaf player) wasn't even drafted. Seattle picked him up. Even the MVP of the entire game was a seventh round draft pick. Seventh round!

In short, Seattle flipped the script, capitalized on individual strengths, and created a literal game changer: a relatively "new" model in the NFL. Seattle's success was built on a few years of not seeking a couple of shining stars, nor asking players to be something they're not, but instead by putting players in place where they shine most, feel most at home, and have the most to offer to the team. Instead of penalizing them for their weaknesses, they looked at their strengths, and invested in those strengths. Fifty-some players, each with their own talents to bring to the whole.

Over twenty-some years in nursing, and it still seems nurses as they come out of school are woefully unprepared to "know themselves," and are instead groomed to tell prospective employers what they want to hear. I've long lamented the fact that nursing schools do not hone in on a person's strengths, but rather spit them out the other side--oftentimes meaning they end up as a square peg in a round hole.

Over the years I've seen incredibly talented people be chucked out the window like a banana peel. I really hope better for the younger generation. I would like to see nurses--from the prerequisite hopefuls, to the newly graduated, to the newly hired--be groomed to their strengths right out of the gate. And in turn, instead of constantly penalizing staff, focusing on shortcomings and creating a culture of fear (interspersed with rah-rah-sis-boom-bah-team-building exercises), I'd like to see hospitals invest in putting round pegs in round holes.

Perhaps I'm a dreamer, and perhaps a little unrealistic, but that's what they said about the Seahawks.

[Guttercat, ASN, RN]

Maybe if nurses were valued as much as and paid as much as evn the worst NFL player.......

CapeCod,

That's a whole 'nuther topic (and yet a valid one). Nurses will never make a pro sports salary. By "pro sports" I mean the big ones: football, basketball, hockey, soccer, golf, baseball.

But, neither do most neurosurgeons and physicists. That's not the point of this post, however.

Nurses need to be taught how to be self aware long before they are thrown to the wolves.

Sure, we all come out of nursing school with a vague idea of what we "like and don't like." But, it is a very rare person that comes out of any program of study having a fully focused grasp on who they are.

It takes a keen, objective, and learned eye to usher people into where they will be most happy, fulfilled, and effective within an organization. Unfortunately, what I see very often are players floundering around and miserable, and getting "stuck."

This goes far deeper than "I want to be in ER!" Or, "I want to work in OB!"

I don't know the solution, but looking at the Seahawk model, it is one that took a group of "OK athletes" that were cast-off's in the eyes of the many for varying reasons, and turned them into World Champions as a unit.

That's crazy. Crazy good.

[Guttercat, ASN, RN]

The super bowl was horrible , I would rather see a close game , but I agree I've always helped the new nurses and really enjoy teaching them things, it would be good if schools let nurses develop strengths and work on weaknesses

I thought the Superbowl was fantastic for the reasons mentioned: a bunch of free agent and un-drafted/low draft pick "pedestrians," each with their own unique strengths, were brought together and the end result was amazing. Players were given reign to be themselves. And yet, individually they were so low on the totem pole that they were called "appetizers" by some. Very few saw this coming.

Meanwhile, the Great Elway is picking his nose wondering what the heck just happened, and team managers are scrambling at the behest of team owners who are demanding "I want what the Seahawks have."

Talk about a game changer.

You also bring up a great point: welcoming our new members to the team. I think we vets (as a whole) do a very poor job in supporting the incoming ranks. One thing I heard one of the Seahawks players describe was an atmosphere of acceptance, brotherhood and mentoring.

We nurses may be as culpable as employers in that regard.

[Enowagi]

I'm not into football but that was a landslide victory

[lub dub]

Peyton Manning was very humbled by that game. Sometimes in life, it's good to be humbled...

[Guttercat, ASN, RN]

Peyton Manning was very humbled by that game. Sometimes in life, it's good to be humbled...

Absolutely. A good humbling (I've been there, done that) can be used to drive people to better performance.

But, an occasional "humbling" is far different from punitive fear mongering.

I've seen it so many times...beat the square pegs into round holes and they will either tuck tail, buckle down and get with the program, or they will be cast out of the organization.

One of the things the players state about coach Carroll (of the Seahawks), is that his approach to team management is refreshing. He does not berate, he does not shout, he does not threaten, nor does he ask his players to be something they're not. He looks at their strengths and sticks them where they need to be. Happy players, happy and successful team.

I am really intrigued as to how this franchise has taken a bunch of "losers and cast-off's" and turned the entire team into World Champions by providing a platform where each player shines in their own respective talents.

I think it's very cool.

Again, I don't know how this can be replicated in a nursing model, but I believe it is possible.

[Emergent, RN]

Just returned from the Seahawk's parade in Seattle. What a day. I'm so proud of my fellow fans, what a wonderful experience spending so much time in a great crowd. I've never seen such a courteous group.And so awesome to see our heroes!

Hooray Hawks!

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

I would have to agree with a big chunk of this. While I'm certainly no fan of the Seahawks, the team management method they use is an excellent model, if everyone buys into it. That's a key thing right there. They assembled a great team out of a bunch of disparate parts and you're right, they put those bits together where they needed to be. The players may have had an idea what positions they wanted on the team, but when the Coach looked at their strengths and weaknesses, he put them where they could be utilized best... and the players had to trust that judgment. If the players didn't like their positions, they probably were given support to work on those weaknesses so they could effectively change positions.

Once they started winning though, I'm sure they quickly realized the value of why they were placed where they were.

Just like any team, really... if the team is assembled well with all positions filled with people with good strengths in those areas, they'll do some amazing things, no matter what "it" is.

Something else that hasn't been addressed though, and I've touched on it a little bit, is teamwork itself, in particular team spirit. You can have an amazing team with people all in the right places, but if they can't get along or they don't like the overall goal, the team will ultimately self-destruct. Personalities also have to mesh well, regardless of position on the team.

Remember folks, a team can be as small as 2 people or many thousands. I've been on a team with poor team spirit. Back when I used to work on an ambulance, I was the team leader of sometimes 2 or 3 people. One partner of mine was an excellent EMT and definitely knew his stuff, unfortunately he didn't recognize his position on the team and essentially refused to work with me in a cohesive manner. Unfortunately for that particular teaming, I ultimately had to resort to being the boss instead of leader and had to resort to direct orders to get him to do what was necessary. That team self-destructed. He ended up being shown the door a few days later.

One particular problem with Nursing School and placing people where they fit is that by necessity, we all have to be trained to be generalists to begin with. Once you start specializing someone's training, it can be difficult/expensive to retrain them for a different specialty. Toward the end of school, it wouldn't be a bad idea for individual students to meet with a panel and discuss their identified strengths and weaknesses, and have them discuss those areas of nursing that fit so that the student has an idea what might work best for them right out of the gate, while still getting the "generalization" training we all need. Goals and career aspirations should also be a part of that discussion so that several pathways to that end could be brought up.

All this would be an excellent way to steer the round pegs to the round holes and the square pegs to the square holes from the get-go and perhaps make things a lot easier down the road for everyone else.

The Seahawks did it, why not Nursing?

[wannabecnl]

Akulahawk, I love your idea of nursing schools sitting down with students and making a plan, based on strengths/weaknesses, interests, practical considerations, etc. The most useful thing I saw in my nursing school time was my med-surg clinical professor's eval of my performance. She REALLY focused on all of us as individuals and advocated for me to get into a clinical immersion that made sense with my strengths, weaknesses, and interests (to wit: rather than beat on me until I could handle 6 patients, she stated that I did extremely well with 1-2 patients and would be a strong addition to a unit where the ratios are low but the intensity is high).

But that game was ridiculous. Really.

[amygarside]

We're on the same page hey_suz. I am not a big fan of football too. But I always hear them around. Anyway, its a great article. Thanks.

[nursefrances, BSN, RN]

Liking this thread.

On a side note- Best quote I have heard so far:

"Did you know there was a football game going on at the Bruno Mars concert?"

[Emergent, RN]

And don't forget a very important aspect of the Seahawks team- The 12th Man, the fans.

The support of the fans is so important. We nurses need the support of our fans!

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

I had a casual conversation some years back with someone from (I believe) the UK regarding nursing school -- hopefully some of our UK nurses can chime in with more particulars.

The basic gist of what I remember from the conversation is that there is not just one "nursing degree" (generalist) like we have here in the USA. There were (as I recall) four different "scopes" of nursing, such as general, pediatric, labor/delivery/postnatal, and trauma/emergency. You had to decide which type of nursing you wanted to pursue after your first year of nursing school, and then you received specialized training in your chosen scope. If you later decided to change to a different scope, you had to take more classes and become certified/degreed in that new specialty. (It was several years ago that this conversation was held -- I may be remembering wrong and everyone obtains the "general" degree/license first, then the specialty scopes require additional schooling.)

While one of the great things about nursing in the USA is the vast number of different positions you can hold with just one degree/license, I would have preferred to have more specialized training in the trauma/critical care both because it's my area of interest and because I would probably have been more likely to be able to get a job in my chosen field right out of school.

As it is, I have to "serve my time" on a med-surg floor in order to be able to even apply to an ICU or ER unit, then after getting hired for my "dream job" I start all over again as a newbie on orientation in that unit. It seems like there would be more stability / less turnover on med-surg units if the people that were hired there were actually intending to work there long-term in the first place.

I totally understand the reasons for the specialized units wanting their new hires to have some nursing experience under their belts before being hired -- new grads still have a LOT to learn! But how much better would it be to hire a "new grad" who has already done a year's worth of clinicals just in the specialty unit in addition to a year's worth of specialized classroom?

What if an ER/ICU could hire a "newbie" who was already PALS and ACLS certified with experience working with trachs, vents, and multiple drips? Or if a Labor/Delivery unit could hire a "newbie" who had already assisted with dozens of birth situations instead of just 1-2 (I saw one lady partsl birth and one c-section in nursing school)?