Be Good to Nurses and They'll Stick With You

Even before the recent economic hard times hit, many hospitals and other places that employ nurses were cutting back on paying for continuing education, according to the recently released 2008 Critical Care Nurses’ Work Environments study.The survey of nearly 5,600 critical care nurses found that the number of employers who provided no monetary assistance for continuing education rose from 16 percent in 2006 to nearly 24 percent in 2008.This despite the fact that the work environment is cited as one of the main considerations for nurses sizing up prospective employers, according to the survey.Support for continuing education and certification also is correlated with the degree of job satisfaction, as well as recognition for earning certification. Sadly, nurses reported that this recognition declined from 45 percent in 2006 to 43 percent in 2008. (A “baseline” study was done in 2006 to measure whether the AACN’s standards for a healthy work environment were being met. This 2008 study, conducted by the AACN, Gannett Healthcare Group and Bernard Hodes Group recruiters, was done to compare results of the two surveys.)I’m not sure whether “recognition” of certification means a pat on the back or a raise in pay or both, but from years of listening to nurses and other hospital workers, I’ve come to believe that there are many things employers can do that cost little or no money that keep employees happy and retention rates high.To start, nurses want to be treated with respect, be asked to problem-solve and be considered as important members of a collaborative team. When this happens, job satisfaction ranks high.Nurses also want to be trusted and treated like grownups. They don’t want to be micromanaged, and when they are, job satisfaction is low. Micromanagement shows a lack of trust and confidence, a nurse-friend of mine told me, and it wastes managers’ time and talents. This friend complained of a boss who spent most of her time rearranging the supply shelves when she should be asking how to help the floor nurses and what they need to do their job more efficiently and thoroughly.Which brings me to another thing on many nurses’ wish lists: When changes are considered, and it affects nurses, they want input.Hospitals should be designed first to accommodate patients’ and families’ needs, and secondly, to meet the needs of the caregivers, whether they be family or bedside nurses.The board of my local community (public) hospital just voted to spend $2.4 million for advertising, marketing and public relations this coming fiscal year. That money would surely hire a few more nurses who would go a long way in promoting the hospital’s good name. A community judges a hospital by what it hears about the nurses at the bedside care and the care they give, not by some slick marketing campaign.What do you consider the most important perks of your job?Do you get the type of perks you think you should?Has your employer cut back on perks?Tell us about it.

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