Commitment Goes Both Ways

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The current nursing shortage and impending sense of gloom about future trends have required hospital leadership to step up in improving the working lives of professional nurses. The challenge in attempting to meet people's professional goals and some of their personal goals, such as flexible time off, is a large task that should not be taken lightly.

Quint Studer, in his excellent book Hardwiring Excellence, summed up the basic organizational requirement of the hospital executive team to ensure the recruitment and, most importantly, the retention of nurses. Magnet hospitals also exhibit these recommended behaviors:

It is obvious that middle management also needs to adhere to these principles with their staff and peers. In addition, organizational commitment helps individuals achieve professional goals through such formalized programs as tuition reimbursement, mentoring, succession planning, and a risk-free environment that promotes two-way communication and the ability to try something new and different. The clinical infrastructure and processes must be developed and in place to facilitate practice and close the gap between what we should do versus what we really do.

These practices make a good organization great, but what does the nurse owe the organization? It is my belief that all nurses, other staff, and supervisors must be a part of a nurturing, positive organization. All are responsible for ongoing constructive change in a dynamic environment that must be consistently proactive to changing demands. Remember the adage, “if we always do what we have always done, we will always get what we always had”; I think that speaks for itself.

As working nurses, we owe the organization:

Ultimately all nurses are clinical leaders and must work cohesively with their management leaders. It is not a contest but an obligation to ensure the best care in a fiscally responsible manner. Professional and personal goals can be met in this type of environment, but each nurse needs to take responsibility for her own strategy and planning so she is in the right setting and place to grow.

Will Rogers may have said it best: “Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.”