On the back of every R.N. extension badge are the following phrases:
As your co-worker and with our shared organizational goal of excellent patient care, I commit to the following:
- I will accept responsibility for establishing and maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships with you and every other member of this team.
- I will talk to you promptly if I am having a problem with you. The only time I will discuss it with another person is when I need advice or help in deciding how to communicate with you appropriately.
I will establish and maintain a relationship of functional trust with you and every member of this team. My relationships with each of you will be equally respectful, regardless of job titles or levels of educational preparation.
I will not complain about another team member and ask you not to as well. If I
hear you doing so, I will ask you to talk to that person.
I will accept you as you are today, forgiving past problems and ask you to do the
same with me.
I will be committed to finding solutions to problems, rather than complaining about them or blaming someone for them, and ask you to do the same.
I will affirm your contribution to the quality of our work.
I will remember that neither of us is perfect, and that human errors are opportunities, not for shame or guilt, but for forgiveness and growth.
The Commitment to My Coworker commitment statements are indicative of our organization's commitment to continuing as a Great Place to Work, starting with your commitment to yourself and then your co-workers. Several of the Magnet Model components speak to commitments to different structures and processes. The commitment to co-workers is empowering to the individual and teams within our healthcare system.
My blog this week will review one more of the Structural Empowerment sub-components, Commitment to Professional Development.
Commitment to Professional Development sub-component of the Magnet application instructs us to document how the organization provides for the following:
- Supports nurses at all levels who seek additional formal nursing education;
- Has met goals for improvement in formal education showing an increase in the percentage of nurses that have obtained their bachelors of science in nursing over the two-year assessment period;
- Professional nursing certifications must increase over that same two-year assessment period showing that the nursing staff seek to improve their knowledge and are certified in their specialty;
- Develops and provides continuing education programs for nurses at all levels and settings;
- Provides career development opportunities for non-nurse employees and members of the community interested in becoming a nurse.
There has been a substantial increase in certifications among the nursing staff due to an increased awareness and desire to obtain certification in their specialty. At this time 11 percent of our nurses are nationally certified in their specialty. There has also been an increase in nurses going back to school to obtain their advanced degree. We believe that the nurses have been inspired and empowered by their co-workers, manager or director to increase their professional education.
Currently, 48 percent of our nursing staff has achieved their bachelor's degree in nursing and 10 percent of our nursing staff is master-prepared.
The educational programs for nurses at all levels within the organization have been compiled showing an amazing amount of educational offerings for our nursing staff from educational conferences to free online educational continuing educational programs. We have educational offerings for our non-nurse employees and have a financial loan forgiveness program that financially enables employees to go back to school to gain their nursing degree.
In my next blog, I will review the third sub-component of Structural Empowerment - Teaching and Role Development - Stay tuned and stay empowered!
