5 strategies to foster a healthy and productive working environment for nurses
Medical facilities have a high-stress environment because everyone has to be on their feet to save lives and achieve patient satisfaction. Without proper policies and initiatives in place, stress can cause burnout and eventually, high turnover among nurses. Here are 5 strategies to foster a healthy and productive working environment for nurses.
Practice open communication
Some problems are only given attention when they become worse and hard to resolve. By practicing open communication between the management and nurses, issues and concerns are brought to light early on.
Open communication entails being open to feedback and allowing nurses to air their thoughts. Identify and understand what the struggles of the nurses in your facility are. Listen to what their thoughts are about their workload, working environment, or even what makes them tick. Use these points as a basis for how to improve.
A healthy and productive working environment for nurses is made possible by creating an inclusive workplace. Give your nurses a seat at the table. Organize consultations to better understand their situation. Another option is to create a feedback form where they can anonymously give comments and suggestions.
Communication lines should be open at both ends. Tell them what the management thinks while also allowing them to share their feelings regardless of their position or level.
Foster a collaborative environment
So there is active and open communication between the management and nurses in your facility, what now?
The next strategy to foster a healthy and productive working environment for nurses is to build a collaborative environment. This is an environment where nurses have a say in the policies, initiatives, and activities of your medical facility.
Besides patient satisfaction, medical facilities should also consider employee satisfaction. After all, the employees are the backbone of every institution.
It would be difficult to get patient satisfaction when your nurses and other employees are unhappy and unmotivated. Their dissatisfaction and lack of motivation will eventually reflect in how they handle patients.
Similarly, achieving patient satisfaction will also be a challenge if there is high nurse turnover which may eventually lead to nurse understaffing.
Be open to collaboration in terms of the direction your medical facility is heading. Do not just stop at giving your nurses the chance to talk. Listen to what they have to say and grow a collaborative environment where they can throw in ideas and hold a discussion.
Cultivate a culture of recognition and appreciation
Apart from a collaborative environment, creating an inclusive workplace that recognizes and appreciates merit and hard work is also one of the strategies to foster a healthy and productive working environment for nurses.
Give credit where credit is due. Recognize exemplary nurses who have shown dedication to their work and have yielded patient satisfaction.
While words of affirmation and a thank you are good, incentives and material rewards are also highly appreciated.
Set aside a budget for bonuses or rewards such as gift certificates, gym memberships, or even additional paid days off. Offer promotions to nurses who have shown excellent patient care, leadership, and a genuine heart for patient satisfaction.
Let your nurses know that your medical facility appreciates them and everything that they do. This will make them feel loved and appreciated and will motivate them to do better. Consistent recognition and appreciation also reduce the chances of nurse resignation.
Ensure appropriate staffing
One major factor of nurse satisfaction is appropriate staffing through a good nurse-to-patient ratio. This ratio is the number of patients assigned per nurse in your medical facility.
While there are no national mandates or policies for nurse-to-patient ratio, a good number to follow is one nurse for every four patients.
Appropriate staffing can lead to patient satisfaction because nurses have ample time and energy to take care of the patients under their wing. Nurses will get the chance to know their patients better. As a result, they can provide care tailored-fit for that patient.
Quite the contrary, nurses with too much workload will feel overwhelmed. Burnout can be a result of this which may lead to nurse resignation and understaffing.
Encourage personal and professional growth
Among the strategies to foster a healthy and productive working environment for nurses is to have initiatives that will encourage personal and professional growth.
Most, if not all, nurses have career goals in mind. They would not like to stay in a workplace where they will remain stagnant. This will lead to unhappiness and job dissatisfaction.
Be a workplace that not only encourages but also fosters growth. Hold regular training and seminars to hone and further develop clinical skills. Offers scholarships or initiatives that push for post-graduate education. If not possible, at least give incentives and promotions to nurses who take further studies.
Create a career development plan or leader where every nurse regardless of level will see growth in their professional life.
Employee satisfaction = patient satisfaction
If you want to have good patient satisfaction in your medical facility, you should also look into employee satisfaction. Happy and motivated nurses will provide quality care to patients. Strategies to foster a healthy and productive working environment for nurses include having a collaborative environment and creating an inclusive workplace.