Summary: The Culture Of Nursing Engagement

Organizational Values Essay

In nursing, engagement suggests that the nurse is physically, mentally, and emotionally "engaged" in their work. The nurse will have a sense of ownership, loyalty, and dedication to create a safe environment for patients and an effective and efficient working environment. Engagement is a key, critical part of patient safety and quality of care.
In an article called, “The Culture of Nursing Engagement” written by Dr. Fasoli, he says that work engagement is important to organizational efforts to retain nurses and mitigate future nursing shortages.
Detractors for a nurse to maintain this fixed focus on positive patient outcomes relates directly to disengagement with their leadership and having a solid understanding
of the principles that guide their facility.
Clinical leadership is instrumental in helping nurses maintain engagement with their patients by informing staff on changes to guidelines and protocols and keeping them up-to-date or changes that affect the flow of the unit.
They also ensure nurses are given allotted time to catch up on proficiency requirements and tasks that can impact their job performance.
When clinical leaders are effective in performing this function, they allow the nurses to focus their much-needed time and energy on their patients. This in turn helps facilitate satisfaction in the work place, which directly contributes to positive patient outcomes.
Advancing nurse satisfaction and patient outcomes requires effective communications. In nearly every care setting, effective communication is necessary. Clinicians need to regularly communicate in a professional and practical way that is respectful and attuned to individual differences. They also must ensure that the right information is exchanged to the next caregiver or health care provider so that the safety and quality of care is not compromised.
As a nurse with less than one year of experience, establishing satisfaction within my facility is critical. It not only drives my opinion of the workplace but it also shapes my perception of the nursing career field as a
whole.
Being one of two RN’s in my clinic, I think I have established a great working relationship with my fellow nurse and with the clinical supervisor. We communicate daily through several mediums about clinical requirements, schedule changes or immediate patient requirements. This has expanded my knowledge and helped me learn how to function confidently within my work center and even take on various responsibilities within the facility.
I see my clinical supervisor daily and she is very diligent with providing updates on any changes or requirements.
She has given me feedback on my work performance and provided assistance with training me on areas that required proficiency. When I asked for personal time off it was granted without any hassle or judgment. This eased my feelings on taking time off and increased my contentment for her as my supervisor and has encouraged me to work harder and strive to be more productive in the office.
If organizations can focus on a culture of engagement with their nurses, clinicians and supervisors, they can establish a wealth of future leaders, and reduce the number of managerial vacancies in their organizations.
Additionally, when organizations invest in nurse manager who utilize engagement practices they have the potential to see increased staff satisfaction through this process and promote retention, which helps continue the cycle in the development of nursing leaders.
From my experience I believe this is important and a vital component to nursing satisfaction. I can say with certainty I am encouraged to continue to work hard and provide solid patient care because my supervisor and fellow co-workers are supporting my ability to stay engaged with my patients through teamwork and effective communication.
Resources
Provision of Care, Treatment, and Services (CAMCAH / Critical Access Hospitals), 2004 retrieved on October 9, 2011 from http://www.jointcommission.org/standards_information/jcfaqdetails.aspx?StandardsFAQ Id=290&StandardsFAQChapterId=29

Fasoli, DiJon R. PHD, RN. 2010 Lippincott. The Culture of Nursing Engagement: A Historical

Perspective. Nursing Administration Quarterly: January/March 2010 - Volume 34 - Issue

1 - p 18–29 doi: 10.1097/NAQ.0b013e3181c95e7a. Retrieved December 4, 2011 from

http://journals.lww.com/naqjournal/Abstract/2010/01000/The_Culture_of_Nursing_Engagement__A_Historical.4.aspx