MORALE

Nurses General Nursing

Published

  1. Recently our unit has experienced a mass exodus leading to a decrease in morale, any suggestions on non costly ways for improving unit satisfaction?

Haha your question is sooooo funny (nnnott). Hehehe..."noncostly"...haha

It's clear from the way you ask the question, not that you have no clue, but that you absolutely do know, what more than likely needs to be addressed is the staffing levels...you just don't want to pay for it.

And by the way, pizza really is a great accompaniment to writing a resignation letter.

That would be my bet...

For the money it's probably gonna cost in retraining, falls, med errors, call-outs, backbiting, bullying, survey dings and fines, sentinal events and other assorted negatives, hire a few and keep the levels a bit more realistic. Clean up the pigsty with more adequate staffing. It's really the only way morale is likely to improve,

You can't hide from it or gloss it over...

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Specializes in Flight, ER, Transport, ICU/Critical Care.

And posters or with cheerful/happy sayings make things WORSE. Avoid these.

No "HANG IN THERE" - No "DOING A GREAT JOB".

NO PLATITUDES. Just DO NOT do it.

Management must get remaining core staff to communicate & be accommodating, appreciative. Then these staff get rewarded - epic levels if "core" financial incentives. Immediately get agency, hire, bulk up support and ancillary staff like never before.

My tolerance on management BS would border on allergic to near anaphylaxis.

ACTUAL solutions, when staff is neck deep in misery are NEVER going to be based on WORDS.

SOLUTIONS that MATTER will ALWAYS mean ACTION.

:angel:

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My favorite platitude is the one that goes a little something like this: real power lies in the way YOU react to crapsack circumstances.

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Specializes in ICU and Dialysis.

It's true. Staffing is everything. I would even happily take a pay cut to have more nurses and ancillary staff, and consistent and safe patient ratios. I would deal with the occasional equipment issue, the press-ganey BS, abusive patients, 100x better if I consistently had a workload that was safe and manageable.

Morale is low because no one is sure if they're going to get screwed when they come in because of STAFFING.

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Specializes in Critical care.
No. Things that people care about actually cost something ...like good staffing, adequate supplies, fair wages, etc. Please don't think a "pizza party" will fix anything. That's just something to eat while working on a resignation letter.

I can't like this one enough! Our hospital is the only hospital in the are who doesn't offer post-retirement medical, and a pension .... so sick of pizza parties when all we want is a pension, like all the other hospitals in the area.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
I can't like this one enough! Our hospital is the only hospital in the are who doesn't offer post-retirement medical, and a pension .... so sick of pizza parties when all we want is a pension, like all the other hospitals in the area.

I'd be starting the exodus to the pension-granting hospitals.

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What, you mean the half-assed pizza parties and five dollar gas cards didn't work??

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
I'd be starting the exodus to the pension-granting hospitals.

Sounds great until you are 3 years from retirement and they announce that they are doing away with pensions. :(

Apparently there is a hospital in town here that offers "free medical care for life" for their employees who are there >10 years. I've never heard of a deal like that - there must be fine print.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
What, you mean the half-assed pizza parties and five dollar gas cards didn't work??

Maybe if you throw in a coupon for $5 in the hospital cafeteria (only redeemable on weekdays during lunch hours).

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Specializes in Primary Care, Military.
And posters or with cheerful/happy sayings make things WORSE. Avoid these.

No "HANG IN THERE" - No "DOING A GREAT JOB".

NO PLATITUDES. Just DO NOT do it.

Management must get remaining core staff to communicate & be accommodating, appreciative. Then these staff get rewarded - epic levels if "core" financial incentives. Immediately get agency, hire, bulk up support and ancillary staff like never before.

My tolerance on management BS would border on allergic to near anaphylaxis.

ACTUAL solutions, when staff is neck deep in misery are NEVER going to be based on WORDS.

SOLUTIONS that MATTER will ALWAYS mean ACTION.

:angel:

Ours are better. "Platitudes" that are actually thinly veiled insults calling staff lazy. Same through email about teamwork and whatever other thing management accuses all staff of not being passive aggressively. This while actually pointedly ignoring these very same behaviors that are causing significant discord and conflict amongst staff and between staff and patients. Those who leave just lack loyalty, though.

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Specializes in Human Connection.

A mass exodus typically is related to a team being upset about issues on the unit. They feel like they have two choices: find a solution or accept the environment. When they believe they don't have a solution or cannot accept the situation any longer they leave. They leave because they feel hopeless. If you understand why people left and you have the ability to fix that problem then that's probably the first thing that needs to be done. However, no matter what, it sounds like it may be time to focus on developing better connections on a more human level. People don't stay for the money, water bottles or pizza parties. People stay because they feel connected to their peers and the difference they can make together.

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Continue beating employees until moral improves.

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