Recently we had our unit committee meeting and among all of the other topics that we handle it was mentioned that there has been a culture shift in our hospital, and not for the better.
We have had a lot of change recently and a lot of overcrowding. We have made many single rooms into double rooms to accommodate for the increase in census, spent many nights on diversion hoping something didn't walk in through the ER and boarding ICU patients in the ER.
I understand where the frustration is coming from however, our ER is feeling the backlash from all departments in a way we never have before. There is more attitude, yelling and meaningless reporting of things that were once handled between staff now going to managers (petty things). Our manager has said that this isn't just a couple of the units, it's all the units and of course we aren't excluded.
We have decided to start a little initiative. When we have staff in another department who are helpful, pleasant or nice we are going to give them a couple of piece of candy that have a little tag on it that says "Thank You" with room to write on the back as to why we are thankful for them.
I am impressed your ER gives a call to give report at all. At my facility the charge nurse assigns a bed and within 2-30 minutes a patient is there. The RN has no time to look anything up in EPIC. It is a holy disaster. We would be happy if we got any kind of report from the ER.
Our nurses are working more overtime, but nurse to patient ratios are not changing despite higher census and in fact all units have been given permission to higher more staff. Our management is surprisingly flexible and adaptive to our needs. Management and staffing is not the problem, from what I can see in my unit.
I'm a little surprised that sending up a little candy with the transport tech to a nurse, or passing some along to housekeeping is so offensive to some people. We've started doing it and it has gone over really well. A nurse on our behavioral health unit took a patient early, even though the patient's room wasn't quite ready, and offered to hold him in her intake/interview room while the room was cleaned. The ER was busy and it was extremely helpful. I thanked her when I gave report and she called to thank me for the candy. It was a positive interaction and hopefully made her feel like the ER wasn't dumping on her, but that we appreciated her flexibility in a time when some floors are refusing to compromise.
In response to the stars chart. One of our medical floors does in fact do that. Their staff lead unit council decided on it and has stuck with it. Some things may seem childish, but if they work for that floor... Who are we to judge what encourages and rewards them? It would never fly in my ER, though.
My problem is that while you reward someone who can take a pt early, you punish units who can't by stating they are refusing to compromise. Maybe I can't take the pt o right away because we are working short, have to move pts to accommodate the new pt, and we have just had a pt fall and injure themselves. I skip lunch to take report, but I don't get candy because I made you wait.
What a cranky thread! I'm an RN Unit Manager and I keep a small supply of ten dollar gift cards to various food places and an even smaller supply of twenty dollar gift cards of the same sort. I give them out about once a week and always to someone who has really outdone themselves...by not only doing their job well, but doing it with an awesome attitude, a willingness to pitch in, and an outstanding work ethic. When I started here a year ago, there were nurse/ CNA wars, shift wars, constant gossip and nastiness. It's been slow going. I haven't made a big production out of the gift cards and I don't do it in a big public way. I take the person aside and sincerely thank them and tell them what it is that impressed me and hand them the card. Of course word gets around and because it's random and unannounced, morale has improved considerably in the last year. ...and I simply don't respond to gossip...act as if I don't understand it, and now they don't gossip...at least not around me! Some of the other managers think I'm nuts ( I don't have a discretionary budget...its out of my pocket)... However....my unit is rarely short staffed, people ask to be assigned there, my patients are happier, and so is my staff. It's a nice change to see and if it costs me ten to twenty bucks a week then so be it. I also occasionally get us pizza and ( gasp) candy as a general thanks after a tough week. I don't see why this is considered so terrible. Ok, in a perfect world all employees would do an awesome job all the time. Nursing can be a pretty thankless profession sometimes...providing thanks and incentive works.
A sincere thank you from a colleague is huge! I think what you're doing is a great idea. It's nice to get a pat on the back once in awhile and hear that someone (especially someone who can relate) appreciates your hard work. Forget the naysayers, keep on doing what works!
Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.
It irritates me because it makes it seem that if I'm given a star, a piece of candy, etc., I'll do my job better. Kind of like I need positive reinforcement to work hard. I am an adult, I bust my a** every shift and a little trinket of some type doesn't make me work harder, I already work as hard as I can. Just a simple "thanks, I've noticed your hard work" from my boss brightens my day, but a trinket is like bribery and feels childish. These candies, stars, or whatever feel unprofessional, kind of like Drs used to give unhappy housewives in the 50s Valium or Xanax. I cannot imagine any other large, professional company; Google, Intel, Apple, or Fidelity doing such a thing.
And of course there must be a root cause of this culture change, and I'm sure it's not because candy wasn't being given out. Most likely it's due to nursing frustration. And since you say the floors are adequately staffed, someone needs to speak with the nursing staff to ferret out the actual problem.
Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.
A sincere thank you from a colleague is huge! I think what you're doing is a great idea. It's nice to get a pat on the back once in awhile and hear that someone (especially someone who can relate) appreciates your hard work. Forget the naysayers, keep on doing what works!
A 'Thank You' is much appreciated, but please don't demean me with candy or stars.
Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.
How about every time the Charge Nurse takes a new admission when we're slammed we give him/her a bag of M & Ms. Wonder how that would go down. Or maybe if the Nurse Manager turns a patient or gets them some ice, we hand her a lollipop?
I do not consider the different responses in this thread 'cranky vs happy', to me it is more a matter of different personality types. In this thread the answers reflect harmonizer personality types vs analytical personality types. Nurses who have harmonizer personalities are uncomfortable with conflict and respond by trying to smooth things over. Whereas nurses who have anaylitcal personality types think about conflict in a linear way and respond with solutions that address the source of conflict.
I am impressed your ER gives a call to give report at all. At my facility the charge nurse assigns a bed and within 2-30 minutes a patient is there. The RN has no time to look anything up in EPIC. It is a holy disaster. We would be happy if we got any kind of report from the ER.
This BS was a major factor in why I left my last job. It really showed that management valued the nurses and workflow of the ED over the safety and workflow of the floor nurses.
I sincerely thank staff that is forced to come and help us. It sucks having to float to a unit your unfamiliar with. I thank them and mean it! I don't need a piece of candy telling me I did good. What I need is proper staffing, a manager that 'gets it', and a raise.
The almighty budget! It's so easy to look at numbers and cut from nursing. We're probably the biggest suckers in the budget so they cut from us, demand more and more with less and less, then ask us to join committees to figure out how we can give more with less. I sometimes wonder what nursing would truly look like had it been a male profession.
Only in nursing will we find a piece of candy given out to a job well done! It's kind of laughable if you think about it. Sweet, but laughable. Fix the problem and quit putting a band aid on a gsw.
OP the fact that you thought of something to lift your co-workers spirits is commendable. When I first read this I thought this was my hospital (fellow ED RN is that you? lol)
And to everyone in here groaning about candy??? sure it's not the most sophisticated idea but not to be cliche... it's the thought that counts... at least someone is trying to take matters into their own hands and improve things instead of just complaining.
Sometimes we can be so crude on this website... sigh.
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inshallamiami
203 Posts
Try making bread