An exclusive interview: The NP working for sustainable culture change in nursing

If we use a historical example, when March 2020 came and New York state shut down, what helped us here in New York City in particular is that the rest of the country pretty much shut down. We were able to get additional assistance. Our hospitals did not have elective surgeries, people weren't getting additional treatments outside of it, and then you had the creation of the COVID unit. But now, it's just everyday, so the only thing that can really happen is we have to go back to a way to prevents folks who don't need to go to the emergency department, who don't need to go to the hospital, surgeries that don't need to occur that are purely elective, they need to just not happen right now. That allows for an availability of the staff in a local institution that knows the rules and regulations, and then partner them, give them the additional training they need. I was working contract sometime in April or May, and I was side-by-side with an OR nurse who was in the ER. She was completely out of her element, and I hugged her and I said, “let's do this. Let's make this happen. I got you, I got your back. You got my back, we'll make it happen.” And it was a great few shifts - that's what you do. It's like shock - we're in a shock state and what happens? The body shuts down, we don't care about arms, we don't care about legs, let’s concentrate on the core.

I think one of the things that makes nursing difficult is we always try to be stoic, even though we know we need help. You know, “Hey, can I help you with something?” “Oh, no, I got it. I got it.” But we know it's okay to say, “yes, I actually do need help.” That's hard for us because we are a competitive field, we compete with one another even though we don't really have to or need to, but that's the beauty of our practice. More and more blogs are open now to being more vulnerable than that, but it starts there. On NurseDeck, they can share stories, hear new experiences, and get something for themselves they can put into practice, as well.

Jose Michael Maria has extensive experience in the nursing field. He works as a family nurse practitioner at a clinic in New York and a clinical adjunct professor for Mercy College. With a background in emergency medicine as a registered nurse and manager, he also freelances for emergency departments on an “as needed” basis and works as a manuscript reviewer for the Journal of Emergency Nursing. As a leader, he spearheads cultural change through team building, re-engineering workflows, and improving policies and procedures. Jose is also a Ph.D. student at Molloy College, working towards a Doctorate of Philosophy in Nursing Science.

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