I saw this on Twitter today and just had to share it here with you. There is a tie-in to nursing here…big time.

I think this video explains the huge missing link between hospital administrators and nursing. Nurses would love their job so much more if they were given the opportunity to be creative (create), find automony (self-direct), find purpose, and add meaning to what they do 8-12 hours a day. Right now their job is so filled with a set of prescribed tasks that they sometimes feel they need more money in order to “make it all worthwhile”. As a profession, I think we may be stuck back at the level of “carrot & stick” due to the fact that it *is* so task oriented. Although more money is a good thing, in this day and age, it’s also a hard thing to come by. It seems to me that patients (and indirectly, organizations) would benefit so much more from a nursing team who felt good about what they do, felt invested in their job, and were getting a great deal of satisfaction from the work they do. There is a way to get there. I’m sure of it, but it would require a cultural shift at the organizational level which is not an easy task.

Is there a way we can tap into this principle, expand upon it, and perhaps spread the word?

With regards,

Carolyn

Linda Silas

President - Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions - University of Toronto

Taking time at the Canadian Nursing Students Association's National Conference Linda Silas explains how she began working with unions and what she is working on now.

Resources Mentioned:

• LASCHINGER, S., RN, H. K., WILK, P., CHO, J., & GRECO, P. (2009). Empowerment, engagement and perceived effectiveness in nursing work environments: Does experience matter?.Journal of Nursing Management, 17(5), 636.
• Full Time Employment for 70 percent of Nurses
• ThinkNursing.ca
• My Better Medicare
• Nurses for Medicare

Questions

• Linda Silas

  Do you have any suggestions for how we can improve the nursing workplace?

• Robert Fraser

  Have you ever gone to a local union meeting?

Irmajean Bajnok RN PhD

Director of International Affairs and Best Practice Guidelines - Registered Nurses Association of Ontario

Sitting down with Irmajean Bajnok we discuss her experience and how she came to be Director of the IA-BPG. We talk about how the BPG came to be but also about how she hopes that they are able to support nurses in the workplace and create a health work environment for them to practice in.

Recently the RNAO won the an award from Sigma Theta Tau International, for Practice Academe Innovation Collaboration, below I posted a short video I took in Indianapolis of them accepting their award. Enjoy!

Links

• RNAO Best Practice Guidelines (BPG) Professionalism in Nursing
• Health Work Environments Best Practice Guidelines
• RNAO PhD Fellowships
• Condensed Guidelines for PDA's
• Video on Kingston General Hospital implementation of BPGs
• REISS Project
• Submit Idea for BPG & Sign up to be a BPG Stakeholder

Question

• Irmajean Bajnok: Do you have any ideas for BPG that you would find useful? How many of you have downloaded the PDA version of the guidelines?
• Robert Fraser: What format of information is best for you to use knowledge in practice (i.e print, video, audio, PDA, etc)?

Chris Salgado RN, BN, MA

Program Leader - Children, Youth & Families Program

Vancouver Coastal Health

I really must apologize to Chris about this podcast. We had a great conversation in January last year (2009). We met at the Canadian Nursing Association - Nursing Leadership Conference. She had a very interesting idea about how to engage with nursing staff. She works in public health who have their fingers on the pulse of what familes, clients and communities partners need form nursing leadership. Using the World Cafe approach she was able to engage and pull ideas from key stakeholders of her nursing practice. Below are the pictures of what resulted from this approach.

Links

• The World Cafe

Research

• Standielf, R. B. (2000) The art of focused conversation: 100 ways to access group wisdom in the workplace. Gabriola Island, BC, Canada: New Society

Question

• Chris Salgado: What are your ideas that work for leading teams for changing practice?
• Robert Fraser: What was the last conference you were at that you had an opportunity to exchange ideas and share thoughts with others?

Dianne Martin - Registerd Practical Nurses Association of Ontario

Executive Director

Speaking to Ryerson nursing students about horizontal violence in the workplace, giving advice about valuing our colleagues knowledge and skill to provide the best care for clients.