SPRING NEWSLETTER 2013

VOLUME 3, NUMBER1

Nu

I

Welcome

Our executive had another productive and exciting Think Tank, held this year in Kingston. We look forward to connecting even better with our members by sending out a small survey to see what social media our membership uses, as well as what they wish the interest group to provide for them. It should be an exciting year and we hope to provide you, our members, with information that is supportive, practical and thought provoking. We would definitely like you to use our website and contribute to the blog. Our website can be reached at www.snig.ca Keep watching to see what we have planned for nursing week—2013 theme Nursing: A Leading Force for Change!

Una Ferguson Chair

“ Think Tank 2013”

SNIG Executive Back Row from Left Paula Manuel, Christine Kent, Tracey Yule, Desrine Brown Front Brenda Hutton, Una Ferguson

On the Agenda Visionary Leadership Towards 2030 transforming

Public Health,

Primary Care,

Home Care,

Acute Care,

Long-Term Care,

Enablers o Technology, o Ethics, o Health Human

Resources, o Healthy Work

Environment, o Evidence-based

practice

Nurses are patient

people. Wise Phrase

by Author Unknown

“You ask me why I do not write something.... I think one's feelings waste themselves in words, they ought all to be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results”

Florence Nightingale

From Our Executive Network Officers

We are up to 247 members, which is great. Thank you for renewing your membership in SNIG. To the 81 new members of SNIG, we say welcome! It is great to see new members in SNIG. This year you will get more for your membership. Four Newsletters a year, chock full of interesting items, and nursing humor. Plus, check out our revitalized website on the Interest Group page

ofwww.rnao.ca Our website will be periodically updated to give you access to articles of interest to staff nurses. We would love to see your comments on our webpage. Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) this year, on April 13, will feature a speaker on Therapeutic Touch. All of our members are invited to attend, breakfast included! Your SNIG executive will continue to advocate for the staff nurse at all levels of RNAO and beyond. Plus we continue to sponsor undergraduate nursing students’ memberships in RNAO to get the

next generation active in their professional association. Keep an eye out for SNIG. Over the next year or so there will be lots of exciting changes.

Christine Kent, Membership

Hello members: so much has happened politically in Ontario since our last newsletter. The premier Dalton McGuinty stepped down after nine years in office and prorogued the parliament. Ontario has

now selected its first woman premier Kathleen Wynn. Kathleen was officially sworn in on February 11, 2013. Due to all this political activity we did not have the annual Queen’s Park Day in Toronto this year. While we were unable to have our day at Queen’s Park we must remain involved and keep our politicians focused on what matters to Ontarians and that is education, health care, the environment and the economy. Instead, we will have Queen’s Park On the Road profiling the RNAO platform that reinforces how important health care is to Ontarians, check it out at www.rnao.ca. With a minority government, Ontario is in the position where an election could be called at anytime, therefore I suggest we get to know the leaders of the three parties and their platform to ensure that their values aligned with ours and that healthcare

remains a top priority. Take part in Queens Park on the road in your region! Remember to invite MPPs to work during Nursing Week

Desrine Brown Policy and

Political Action

In the last few months I have organized the timing and accommodation for the SNIG Think Tank in Kingston, On. The Think Tank was held Jan 26 at Confederation Place Hotel on the waterfront in Kingston. I have participated in teleconference meetings and sent SNIG Newsflash email to our membership. My goal for the next few months is to submit emails every 4-6 weeks to membership on topics relevant to the staff nurses’ lived experience. I have volunteered to write book reports for the Newsletter.

Brenda Hutton Communication Officer

Morrie Schwartz, in "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

Experts Reveal What Nurses Want on the Job

BY JENNIFER LARSON, CONTRIBUTOR

JANUARY 19, 2012 - What do nurses want? (Source i.e. website address)

According to a growing body of research, nurses want a safe, collegial environment where

members of the health care team communicate and work well together. They want safe

staffing levels. They want flexibility from their employers. They want meaningful recognition.

They want to participate in the decision-making process. They want to be mentored. They want

to be able to speak up, and they want to be heard.

Above all, they want to be able to be great nurses, fully supported in their jobs as patient

advocates and patient educators.

“Nurses really do look to have the opportunity to do what they were trained to do,” said Cathy

Rick, RN, NEA-BC, chief nursing officer for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

A recent survey by AMN Healthcare, the nation’s largest health care staffing and workforce

solutions company, found that a growing number of nurses report that they are dissatisfied

with their jobs. According to the AMN’s 2011 Survey of Registered Nurses, 42 percent of the

respondents said they weren’t satisfied with their particular jobs, up from 34 percent in 2010.

The study concluded by noting, “Healthcare facilities must continue to refine their nurse

retention strategies and consider alternative staffing options in order to meet their patient

care objectives.”

Experts say that employers should have a vested interest in encouraging nurses’ satisfaction

with their work because the alternative is costly. Nurses who are unhappy tend to leave their

positions, and it can cost a hospital as much as 1.3 times the annual salary of a registered nurse

to fill that vacancy.

Wanted: Basic needs first

According to psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, people are moved to meet

their basic needs first, before they’re motivated to move onto satisfying other needs. The

hierarchy is often displayed as a pyramid, with physiological needs at the widest part, the

bottom. The hierarchy then moves up through security, social and esteem needs, with self-

actualization at the very top.

"Nurses have to feel that they're adequately prepared and that staffing is reasonable and that

they're a contributor," said Karen Cox, Ph.D., RN, secretary of the board of the American Academy of Nursing.

Karen Cox, Ph.D., RN, secretary of the board of the American Academy of Nursing, believes you

have to start with the fundamentals before you can address the larger issues, such as self-

actualization.

Cox created an instrument called the Individual Workload Perception Scale to assess nurses’

fundamental needs. It assesses whether nurses are equipped to do their jobs each day. Are

there enough staff members to work all the shifts? Are the nurses getting their lunch breaks? Is

there a supportive manager present and available? Do they have the right equipment?

“The fundamentals are harder and more costly, so it’s easy to see why people may try other

ways to improve the work environment,” said Cox, who’s also the executive vice president and

co-COO of Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo. “However, without the

basic needs being met, it will be difficult; they won't get far.”

Wanted: A positive atmosphere

But nurses do want a work environment that also goes beyond the first level of Maslow’s

hierarchy, said Mary Dee Hacker, RN, MBA, vice president for patient care services and CNO of

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. They often prefer to work for employers who offer some

flexibility in scheduling, which can help them maintain a desirable work–life balance for their

particular stage of life. They want to feel they are doing meaningful work, as well.

The overall atmosphere of the workplace can have a substantial impact on a nurse’

satisfaction.

“There is very clear evidence that nurses are looking for places of employment where

collaboration and respect are the key core values,” Hacker said.

Nurses want to work in an environment not bogged down by conflict or poor communication.

They want to work in a place where they feel safe enough to speak up when they see

something that isn’t right. Improvements have been made on this front in recent years, but

many experts agree that there is still a long way to go.

A 2011 report from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) and the

Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) titled “The Silent Treatment” noted

that greater efforts must be made to promote a culture of safety where nurses do feel they can

speak up. According to that study, communication breakdowns known as “undiscussables” are

still all-too common. Nurses often witness dangerous shortcuts but are scared to confront a

colleague about them; additionally, the study found that only 16 percent of the respondents

who said they have disrespectful colleagues have ever confronted them.

“If you keep feeling you’re scared to question someone, you’re not going to question

something that turns out to be bad” eventually, Cox said.

A growing emphasis on the need for better teamwork is taking root in many health care

organizations.

According to Maja Djukic, Ph.D, RN, an assistant professor at the NYU College of Nursing, team

training can improve work relationships, which has a correlation with job satisfaction for

nurses. Djukic, who is also a researcher with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded RN

Work Project, cited the Team Steps program from the Agency for Healthcare Research and

Quality an example of one such program that promotes team-building in the name of providing

safer patient care.

Another example of a team-building program that is designed to break down communication

barriers and foster collaboration is the Medical Team Training program from the Veterans

Health Administration.

Wanted: Meaningful recognition

In its 2005 report “Standards for Establishing and Sustaining Healthy Work Environments,” the

AACN cited meaningful recognition as one of six vital healthy-workplace standards. Inadequate

recognition can lead to dissatisfaction and turnover, the AACN noted, so meaningful

recognition must become part of an organization’s culture to be truly effective.

“Nurses like to be challenged,” Rick said. “Being challenged and accomplishing something leads

to the opportunity to be recognized, and recognition is always important.”

However, recognition (or reward) isn’t always about money--in fact, often it’s not. Hacker

noted that nurses want their hard work to be appreciated and rewarded, and they like

genuine, not superficial, efforts to do so.

Hacker and Cox both named the Daisy Awards as an example of meaningful recognition. More

than 1,000 health care organizations now participate in this program established by the Daisy

Foundation to recognize excellence in nursing. The awards honor nurses on a monthly basis

and typically feature presentation ceremonies so the nurse can be recognized in front of his or

her peers.

© 2011. AMN Healthcare, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

What do you want on the job? Drop our editor a line or more to

frontlinenurse@yahoo.ca

RNAO Annual General Meeting Opportunity to Explore, Network, Learn, be Inspired, Celebrate Nursing & Nurses

SNIG Annual General Meeting April 13th 2013 Hilton Downtown Toronto 0800-1100

EXECUTIVE POSITIONS WILL BE REVIEWED!!

We would love to mentor new people, thereby having new voices and new

ideas! Come to the AGM in April and consider being a voice for Staff Nursing!!

We Need YOU!

Are you willing to speak out for staff nurses? All executive positions are

open. Chair: Secretary: Policy and Political Action and Communications

plus a Student Representative

Commitment for the position:

Generally a 2 year term : 2 face to face meetings- in Jan/Feb for a think

tank and in April for the SNIG AGM: Approx 4 teleconferences

WE NEED YOU! GET INVOLVED!

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1.

Nursing Humor

ABOUT NURSES: Somebody asked: "You're a nurse? That's cool; I wanted to do that when I was a kid. How much do you make?" The nurse replied: "HOW MUCH DO I MAKE?” ... I can make holding your hand seem like the most important thing in the world when you're scared... I can make your child breathe when they stop...I can help your father survive a heart attack...I can make myself get up at 5AM to make sure your mother has the medicine she needs to live...I work all day to save the lives of strangers....I make my family wait for dinner until I know your family member is taken care of... I make myself skip lunch so that I can make sure that everything I did for your wife today is charted...I make myself work weekends and holidays because people don't just get sick Monday thru Friday. Today, I might save your life. How much do I make? All I know is, I make a difference.

Make A Difference…

Do

Check

Members Comments: After our fall newsletter came out we

had this feedback from one of our members. What do YOU

think!

From: Salome D'Souza To: frontlinenurse@yahoo.ca Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2012 4:57 PM Subject: Standardized nursing uniforms

I received my first newsletter in my inbox, and I was a bit wary about opening it, but I'm glad I did. Whoever came up with the idea to put in the nursing comic strips deserves a high five from me! Great idea! But I wanted to talk about the standardized nursing uniforms. I personally don't agree with this. Nursing is constantly evolving, and I don't believe the change of uniforms is one for the worse. I, as well as many of my nursing colleagues, like wearing scrubs. It is a different kind of uniform, but it still gives us the freedom to express ourselves and show our personality. We can eliminate patient's questioning of who's at their bedside by introducing ourselves to patients as their nurse and reminding them as such. Just because there are complaints that a patient isn't sure who their nurse is does not make this such an issue that it needs to be changed. I've never heard any of my patient express frustration that they can't tell who their nurse is. Our professionalism shouldn't be based on our uniform, but in our actions. The public shouldn't be a deciding factor in what we wear.

21 Suggestions for Success

By H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

1. Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness

or misery.

2. Work at something you enjoy and that's worthy of your time and talent.

3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

4. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.

5. Be forgiving of yourself and others.

6. Be generous.

7. Have a grateful heart.

8. Persistence, persistence, persistence.

9. Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.

10. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.

11. Commit yourself to constant improvement.

12. Commit yourself to quality.

Do you know that RNAO has

online courses that are available

to members? Check them out!

www.rnao.ca

RNAO now has two new awards

for staff nurses: Both in

leadership: One for BPG

implementation and one for

nurses who provide student

mentorship. Do you know

anyone who excels in either

one?

SNIG Recommended

Reads:

Tuesdays with Morrie by

Mitch Albom

Wheat Belly by William

Davis

The Making of a Nurse

by Tilda Shalof

The Fit Nurse: Your Total

Plan for Getting Fit and

Living Well by Gary

Scholar

Have you read a book

that you think others

might like to read? Let

us know!

13. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.

14. Be loyal.

15. Be honest.

16. Be a self-starter.

17. Be decisive even if it means you'll sometimes be wrong.

18. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.

19. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did.

20. Take good care of those you love.

21. Don't do anything that wouldn't make your Mom proud.

Contact information:

If you know of a local nursing event or conference that you want other members of SNIG to know about-contact us by email to have it included in our newsletters or to be posted on our website.

SNIG members can also reach the executive through e-mail at frontlinenurse@yahoo.ca , We hope all nurses have a great and safe Spring and we look forward to

connecting again in the summer!

Check our world famous Blog: Life of a nurse on our website.

www.snig.rnao.ca RNAO now has two new awards for staff nurses:

Both in leadership: One

for BPG implementation and one for nurses who provide student mentorship. Do you know anyone

who excels in these practice areas?

Do you have the RNAO App for the Best Practice Guidelines? Install it and have the guidelines at your fingertips! www.rnao.ca