Empowering Nurses at the Bedside and in Business

More Gifts For Nurses Week

According to a recent new article spotlighting a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll, about one-third of health care workers are considering quitting because of burn-out from the demands on them during this pandemic.  Actually, the statistic was 3 in 10.

Can you imagine what would happen if 3 in 10 nurses leave the profession?  The nursing field is already short-staffed!

Eight years ago, long before COVID-19 changed our lives, I composed a “Nurse’s Bill of Rights.”  Interestingly, the things that were addressed at that time still apply today.

Nurses have the right to:

  1. Speak their mind.
  2. Have a reasonable and fair assignment.
  3. Complete work assigned.
  4. Paid more for higher acuity patients.
  5. Go home feeling like they did a good job.
  6. Feel part of the team.
  7. Not be pushed to work overtime because there is no one else.
  8. Not to be made to feel that they can’t call in sick when they are really ill.
  9. Adequate staffing so everyone has time to do everything each patient requires including psycho-social support.
  10. Be respected by patients, their families, co-workers, management, administration, physicians, and other health care providers.
  11. Be acknowledged for doing a good job.
  12. A fair schedule with an equal number of holidays and weekends compared to coworkers.
  13. Not be hurt by a patient.
  14. Be supported after a difficult shift.
  15. Have time to document care provided.
  16. Refuse to be floated to an unfamiliar unit.

 

As you can see from the Nurse’s Bill of Rights, getting more money is not one of major concerns of nurses.  Nurses just want to be respected and appreciated.  They want to have fair assignments and feel that they’ve done a good job for their patients.

Therefore, when it comes to gifts, I am not just saying “pay them more,” or, “give them a bonus,” or, “buy something for them.”  I am saying to gift them with something in addition to the things in the Nurses’ Bill of Rights.

Look to see which of these areas you can improve at the workplace so that nurses feel that they are acknowledged, appreciated, and heard.

 

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