By: American Nurses Association

Have you heard that nurses are burning out faster than they can be replaced?^1,2 The ongoing nursing shortage brings huge financial costs, but money alone cannot fix this problem.

“New nurses are looking for environments where they feel supported and recognized by their leaders, whereas experienced nurses are more interested in providing quality care and feeling satisfied with their work.”

Nurse leaders are challenged to retain nurses and reduce burnout. In a recent article, Maricon Dans, MSN, RN, Assistant Director, Pathway Operations, discussed the important role that nurse leaders play in creating a positive practice environment for their staff. New nurses are looking for environments where they feel supported and recognized by their leaders,^1,3 whereas experienced nurses are more interested in providing quality care and feeling satisfied with their work.^1,3 Nurse leaders are uniquely positioned to meet the varying needs of their nurses by creating a work environment where nurses have a voice. Read the full article here.

The literature shows creating and sustaining a positive practice environment leads to improved job satisfaction and decreased burnout, which leads to increased retention rates.^1-6

But what, exactly, is a positive practice environment?

The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Pathway to Excellence® Program is built around six standards that, research demonstrates, create and sustain a culture of excellence. The program is unique because it allows organizations to implement their own strategies to meet the standards. Many organizations find the standards are powerfully aligned with their organization’s strategic goals.

Pathway to Excellence provides a FREE self-assessment worksheet to determine how your organization measures up in promoting a positive practice environment and sustained excellence. Use this tool as a starting point to identify areas to elevate your workplace to the highest standard and keep your valued nurses.

Download your free worksheet at https://pages.nursingworld.org/pathway

References

1. Maricon Dans, Vicki Lundmark. “The effects of positive practice environments: Leadership must-knows,” Nursing Management 50, no. 10 (2019): 7-10.
2. NSI Nursing Solutions, Inc. “National Healthcare Retention & RN Staffing Report,” Accessed October 29, 2019, www.nsinursingsolutions.com/Files/assets/library/retention-institute/2019 National Health Care Retention Report.pdf
3. Press Ganey. “2018 Nursing Special Report. Optimizing the nursing workforce: key drivers of intent to stay for newly licensed and experienced nurses.” (2018) Accessed October 29, 2019, www.pressganey.com/resources/ white-papers/2018-nursing-special-report
4. Michael Leiter, Christina Maslach. “Nurse turnover: The mediating role of burnout,” Journal of Nursing Management 17, no. 3 (2009): 331-339.
5. Matthew McHugh et al. “Nurses’ widespread job dissatisfaction, burnout, and frustration with health benefits signal problems for patient care,” Health Affairs 30, no. 2 (2011): 202-210.
6. Christina Maslach. “Job burnout: New directions in research and intervention,” Current Directions in Psychological Science 12, no. 5 (2003): 189-192.

Categories: Leadership / Management, Team Development

Tags: Leadership / Management, Team Development