By Michelle Voss
I’ve spoken a lot about education in my blogs, but this is something that I’ve learned the hard way; education is the key to keeping my facilities running smoothly and maintaining consistency in my staffing. I’ve just completed a run through 3 of my states that I service and when I sit down with my Directors of Nursing, the complaint I get routinely is that staff won’t stay, they won’t do their jobs appropriately and that keeping them motivated is so difficult. Well, I say this is up to us as managers to change. When I ask my DON’s what they are doing for their staff, I get a blank look. It’s not enough anymore in today’s climate to just give them a paycheck. You have to give them feedback, education and non-financial rewards for a job well done. You can’t constantly berate them or correct them without using the finesse to provide them with motivation to continue. When I look at in-service schedules, I see lecture after lecture of all the things they do wrong, but rarely do I see compliments for what they do right! I don’t see enough education…I see how bad they are doing, how horrible they are at their jobs and all the things that are not being completed. No one can sit in an in-service time after time and listen to a gripe session. When I interview staff after in-service, I ask for feedback to that related topic…the one complaint I get most often is that they learned nothing and they are tired of getting “yelled” at meeting after meeting.
Here are some simple ideas to encourage your staff and to make in-service interactive and proactive instead of “reactive”…
• Ask your floor staff what topics they would like to learn about. You might be surprised at their suggestions.
• Make in-service fun…involve your staff into the topic. I’ve even done “staff “ presentation, I gave them textbooks, journals and online access, to look up a 5 minute presentation on diagnosis that affect our elderly population. Then each group got up to present the material they found with a question/answer portion afterwards led by the in-service coordinator. The team with the best presentation got lunch provided. (This was inexpensive pizza, which cost me $20!!)
• Involve your residents! I have a surprise in-service coming up that my staff doesn’t know about. The topic listed is resident care…I have 4 alert and oriented residents that are going to present the topic! I’ve spent some time with these residents and enlisted their help to present the material from the residents’ perspective. (Now, I did ask the residents to not make this a gripe session and will protect both my staff and the residents from being/feeling defensive.) I’m excited about this one and we’ll see how it goes, if it is successful, I’ll add it to my rotation in all my buildings.
• Schedule a surprise Non-in-service! Instead of a lecture or an educational meeting, have a pot-luck catered by your department heads! This is a simple in-expensive way to say thank you that doesn’t revolve around nurse’s week, Nursing assistant week or some other holiday. This is just to say “thank you”.
• Education just doesn’t involve your department…a lot of times it feels like “nursing” versus the rest of the building…have each department bring a job description to the facility in-service, then have each department switch, and do a scavenger hunt for items needed to do that particular job! This is fun and educates all of your staff on the importance of all the departments not just their own. (It is a little chaotic, but works!)
Education is so important, and it’s up to the facility managers to make it work best for their building. But, if you invest the time and energy in your staff, it will show up in job satisfaction, retention and dedication. It’s an area that we often rush through, we all dread in-service days, but with a little effort you can change this attitude.