Prof. Nursing leadeweek 4 Peers response
respond to peers thoughtfully, add value to the discussion, and apply ideas, insights, or concepts from scholarly sources, such as: journal articles, assigned readings, textbook material, lectures, course materials, or authoritative websites. For specific details and criteria, refer to the discussion rubric in the Menu (⋮) or in the Course Overview Weekly Discussion Guidelines.
1 st peer response
Kiersten BarkerMar 25, 2024 at 10:27 AM
The characteristics that I find important for a healthy work envrionment include inclusivity, positivity from management, and open communication. Inclusivity makes everyone feel part of a team and heard by the administration. According to Best Practices in Human Resources for Inclusive Employment: An In-depth Review, “Inclusive employment goes beyond compliance with anti-discrimination laws; it embraces a proactive approach to create environments where individuals of all backgrounds, abilities, and identities feel valued and included” (Ezeafulukwe et. al. p.1 para. 1, 2024). Positivity from management makes people’s overall mood better while at work. It also influences others to be positive and can improve overall floor morale. Open communication makes the staff feel included in floor decisions and that their opinions matter while keeping them informed.
As a leader, I try to remind myself to foster these things every day, even if that isn’t easy. I do this by checking in with my staff at the beginning of the shift. I ask how they feel about their assignment, if is there anything I can do for them or get for them, and try to give them a silver lining to any issue. This reminds them that I care about them and their wellbeing which helps build trust and facilitates open communication. Some unhealthy situations I have had to handle as a nurse leader would include staff excluding other staff and spreading rumors. In this situation, the staff came to me and told me that two nurses on the night shift seemed to ignore everyone else and had heard them speaking ill of other staff. The strategies that I used for this situation were inclusivity and open communication. After being told this, I pulled the individuals aside, brought the exclusion to their attention, and discussed how important inclusivity was. When this didn’t work, I brought them into a meeting with my director to openly discuss it and let them know that I was taking it up the chain of command. This strategy seemed to work but I told my staff that if they noticed any further exclusion to bring it to my attention so I could let my director know.
References
Ezeafulukwe, C., Onyekwelu, S. C., Onyekwelu, N. P., Ike, C. U., Bello, B. G., & Asuzu, O. F. (2024, February 9). Best Practices in Human Resources for Inclusive Employment: An In-depth Review. International Journal of Science and Research Archive.
2nd peer response
Madison Snell
Mar 25, 2024 at 3:28 PM
A healthy work environment is imperative to success in the workplace. A healthy work environment can consist of positive attitudes, adequate staffing, and supportive management. That is what a healthy work environment looks like to me, as a nurse and future nurse leader. As a nurse leader I would have an “open-door” policy. I would encourage staff to come to me with any issues that they may have, and if it involved another coworker, I would uphold 100% confidence in their words. I would try my best to rectify the situation that is causing any negativity in the work environment. Adequate staffing is something I would fight for on my unit. I do not want my nurses to feel unsupported by management because we are not supporting the needs of the unit. Supportive management is also crucial to a healthy work environment. When staff feel like they can express things to management a rapport is formed. Managers who are willing to work with employees when they need it, this helps maintain a healthy work environment.
In my experience, I have left the workplace due to unhealthy work environments. The unhealthy work environment was due to negative attitudes and snide remarks made by floor nurses and the charge nurse. Instead of teaching others when something could have been done something differently or more efficiently, the nurse would be talked about or ridiculed by the nurse leader. This shows poor leadership. When the issue was taken to management, the nurse being ridiculed was told “That’s just her, she doesn’t mean anything by it”. This made the nurse feel like she could not trust her management. I could not work in that kind of environment where I felt like others were constantly judging or talking when you do things differently than they would have. When nurses are working in unhealthy environments, it can lead to decreased productivity by nurses (Sökmen, 2018).
References
Er, F., & Sökmen, S. (2018). Investigation of the working conditions of nurses in public hospitals on the basis of nurse-friendly hospital criteria. International journal of nursing sciences, 5(2), 206–212.
