Happy Nurse's Week

 Recognizing healthcare providers, nurses, physicians, and others allows us to take a moment and acknowledge the people who help us through life.

My friend recently wrote a provocative Doctor’s Day article. It asked what we are doing the other 364 days to recognize our physicians in health systems? 

Nurses get a week which is great. I know most organizations in the industry have celebrations planned and are honoring the noblest of professions. 

I concur. I celebrate nurses and all care givers.

I’m not a nurse, though I have tremendous respect for nurses. I think it is hereditary. My maternal grandmother was a nurse who did her training at Johns Hopkins in the 1930’s. She was my hero and taught me early on how important the people called to careers in healthcare are. She didn’t know that shortly after she died, her only child (my mother) would be diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at age 35 and then two nasty types of cancer at 45. My family spent many years in and out of medical practices and hospitals from Florida to New York. From a patient/family perspective, I was fortunate to interact with many people who cared deeply about the mission and were personally connected to the purpose of the organizations in which they worked. 

Today, it’s not a coincidence I work in healthcare.  I was called to healthcare because of those who came before me, the tremendous respect I have for clinicians and also to contribute to improving the quality of care for all patients.  My mom was an advocate for communication between those on her care team, encouraging them to talk to each other and to her. While her doctors were exceptional (a topic for another day), it was the nurses who were constantly there offering support to my mother and her family. 

As an expression of how thankful I am, I do my best to share what I’ve learned from the thousands of nurses I’ve met over the years.   Nurses choose their profession. They recognize this is their way of providing for their family while caring for the families of others. Ideally, they do it in an environment where they are engaged and enabled to provide the highest quality care. They want the opportunity to develop professionally. Nurses want a leader who cares about them and to be surrounded by colleagues they enjoy working with. They want and expect to be paid fairly.   

When talking with my Korn Ferry colleagues recently I shared a story. While diagnosing the nursing engagement in an organization, a nurse shared in a group session, “you couldn’t pay me enough money to work anywhere else”.  If a recruiter called her, she wasn’t going anywhere and she told me so in no uncertain terms. Why is she so fiercely loyal? In her case, it was a combination of factors that contributed to the culture of the organization. This facility prioritized the needs of the people taking care of the patients. They connected the mission of the organization to the individuals and made sure they showed the nurses, staff and physicians the “care” in healthcare. It sounds simple, right? I’ve learned simple is not always easy and the “soft” people related strategies are the most difficult to execute. 

The best organizations I know pay close attention to the engagement and retention of those most critical to fulfilling the mission.  Nurses are the largest employee group of most health systems and should (along with physicians) be treated with the care they so deserve.  Give them well trained leaders, provide opportunities for development, thank them often (not just this week), and in general treat them the way you would want to be treated.  It could be you or your family member they are caring for and their engagement (or lack thereof) could directly impact you or someone you love. 

Flashback to 1998 and a hospital room in Pensacola, FL. My family knew it was coming because a nurse was engaged enough to walk us through.  She was committed to that organization, its mission, and most importantly her patient and her family. When my mom took her last breath after fighting valiantly for nearly 9 years, the nurse who stood at her bedside with us was a peaceful and comforting presence. I owe her a debt I’ll never be able to repay.  Happy Nurse’s Week seems inadequate, so I’ll personally continue doing all I can to help serve and honor my family.