This week on StressedOutNurses.com, we’re going to focus on a culture change. Today, Wednesday, and Friday, we’ll present three unique stories that can help you improve the environment around you. Whether you’re an aspiring staff nurse or a nurse manager, bring these ideas with you wherever you go and watch your peers’ eyes light up. Here’s the first installment:
One particular closet at Zeeland (MI) Community Hospital is more popular than the rest. Sure, it’s built the same way. It holds supplies, and has hinges and a doorknob, but there’s something different about this closet. This one holds 3 Cheers.
“We wanted to find a way to give staff some recognition,” says Lori Bruins, quality coordinator at Zeeland. “We wanted to reward someone when they exceeded expectations.”
The 3 Cheers Program–complete with a point system, appreciation cards, and gifts–has been at Zeeland for about four years. It’s a way for hospital staff, volunteers, and physicians to be recognized and to recognize each other for the outstanding work they do. And it’s become a big hit in the hallways. “It’s a cool program,” says Christine Roberts, RN, who has been at Zeeland for more than 24 years. “It motivates a lot of people.”
Bruins, who has been in her position for nearly eight years, says the idea of a recognition program at the hospital is far from new. Previously, however, praise was only given by a manager to someone on the staff.
“Rewards such as movie tickets, cafeteria cards, and gift shop money were used in the past,” Bruins says. “But we wanted to find a way to expand it.”
A performance improvement team was charged with the task of creating a better program. Representatives from each area of the hospital came together and developed the idea for a point system. The points, in denominations of one and three, are given to staff from managers or other staff in the form of cards.
“They are two-part cards,” says Bruins. “The left side is filled out and given to the employee receiving recognition, while the right side goes to the manager. Managers aren’t here 24/7, so it’s a way for them to know why staff are being recognized.”
After providing excellent care and compiling points, it’s time for a little trip to the closet. Prizes are worth anywhere from three to 21 points. “People are quite protective [of their points],” Roberts says. “Usually, people save them up, but if we’re having a bad day, we might just need some chocolate.”
A bag of candy is one of the easier prizes to get, requiring few points. Other gifts in the closet include: gift shop and cafeteria certificates, gift cards to a local retail store, gift cards to restaurants, fleece blankets, and cash.
The 3 Cheers program has quickly become part of the culture at Zeeland. Its importance has gone beyond the gifts of appreciation.
“We’re really proud, as a group, of where we work,” Roberts says. “The hospital has always been good about telling you what a good job you’ve been doing. It’s always meant a lot to us.”
While the nursing community continues to struggle with finding and keeping competent, enthusiastic employees, any program or innovation that can give a facility an edge is helpful. “We actively work at recruitment and retention,” says Roberts. “It seems like it’s less of a problem here.”
Source: The Staff Educator, published by HCPro, Inc.
December 22nd, 2010 at 10:22 am
A fantastic blogpost, I just given this onto a student who was doing a little analysis on that. And he in fact purchased me breakfast because I found it for him…
.. So let me reword that: Thank you for the treat! But yeah Thnx for spending the time to talk about this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more details? It is highly helpful for me. Big thumb up for this blogpost!
December 23rd, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Hi, this an impressive read dude. Thankx for sharing! But I’m experiencing trouble with your rss feed. Fail to subscribe. Does anyone else facing same RSS feed problem? Anyone who can assist kindly respond. Thankx
December 24th, 2010 at 2:32 am
Yo, a great read man. Thnx Unfortunately I am experiencing issue with your rss feed. Unable to subscribe to it. Does anyone experiencing same rss trouble? Anybody who can help kindly respond. Thnx
December 24th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
After study few of the articles on your website today, and I really like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my favorites website list and will be checking back soon. Please visit my site as well and let me know what you think.
December 25th, 2010 at 2:01 am
OMG! It is like you read my mind! You seem to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the content home a bit, besides that, this is helpful blog post. A great read. I’ll certainly be back.
December 25th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
A helpful share, I just given this onto a friend who was doing a little analysis on this. And he in fact bought me breakfast because I discovered it for him….
. So let me reword that: Thank you for the treat! But yeah Thnx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you become expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more info? It is very helpful for me. Big thumb up for this post!
January 4th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Most of the times blogs are the same but i think that your blog can be an exception. Cheers !
January 5th, 2011 at 3:32 am
You are not the common blog writer, man. You surely have something powerful to contribute to the web. Such a wonderful blog. I’ll be back for more. Wishing you Happy New Year!
January 5th, 2011 at 4:59 am
Admiring the commitment you put into your blog and detailed information you present. It’s good to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same unwanted rehashed material. Wonderful read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.
January 5th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
Happy New Year 2011! This is a fantastic article man. Great Share. But I am experiencing problem with ur RSS feed. Don’t know why Fail to subscribe. So anybody experiencing same rss issue? Anybody who can help please reply. Thnx
January 5th, 2011 at 1:18 pm
2011 Happy New Year! I would like to thanks for the time you have made in writing this article. I am hoping the same top-grade post from you in the future as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to start my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a good model of it.
January 6th, 2011 at 2:41 am
Great job here. I definitely enjoyed what you had to say. Keep heading because you undoubtedly bring a new voice to this subject. Not many people would say what youve said and still make it interesting. Properly, at least Im interested. Cant wait to see extra of this from you.
January 6th, 2011 at 3:33 am
This is very interesting. I actually enjoy your writing style and your word choice more than anything Smile
January 7th, 2011 at 4:43 am
For me, tiredness is the place I need to push that extra bit. Physical and mental work are a breeze; once I feel tired or sleepy it’s so easy to give in.
January 7th, 2011 at 4:47 am
Acai berry helps lot in weight loss and make your body fit.
January 10th, 2011 at 5:46 am
Easily, the post is actually the greatest on this deserving topic. I agree with your conclusions and will thirstily look forward to your coming updates. Very useful for constructing my website thanks!!
January 10th, 2011 at 9:22 am
You have shared good information that how we can conduct a reverse phone lookup easily. But can some one tell me that how can we conduct free reverse phone lookup.
January 11th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Although tobacco products are banned at many places but you can still enjoy electronic cigarette at these places because it does not contain tobacco or nicotine.