BUILDING A SENSE OF COMMUNITY WITHIN NURSING UNITS NECHERELL NELSON FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY
WHAT IS A SENSE OF COMMUNITY? A sense of belonging that creates: Co-worker expectations Emotional safety Value Trusting relationships among colleagues A bond between co-workers (Bryne, 2014)
WHY IS IT NEEDED IN NURSING UNITS? Builds relationships Promotes a positive working environment Improves staff and patient satisfaction Improves retention rates Refine coping behaviors Builds a joint emotional connection among staff (Buck, 2017) Promotes self satisfaction and growth (Sherman, 2017) Reduces gaps, redundancies and errors (Interprofessional Education Collaborative, 2011) Develops a collective sense of efficacy (Salas, Sims, Klein & Burke, 2003)
WHY SHOULD MANAGEMENT BE INCLUDED WITHIN THE COMMUNITY? Promotes authentic management and staff relationships (Hilton & Sherman, 2015) Builds trusting relationships Creates a mutual sense of purpose (Hill & Lineback, 2012) Leads to more engaged staff (Hilton & Sherman, 2015) Indicates that managers are part of the team Shows that managers are willing to be hands-on
HOW CAN MANAGERS ACHIEVE A SENSE OF COMMUNITY IN THE UNIT? Allow staff to contribute to unit policies Define roles, creating accountability and reliability Provide opportunites for growth (Marquis & Huston, 2017) Promote identification within the organization Encourage open discussion Offer opportunities to build skill and trust (Hilton & Sherman, 2015) Allow colleagues to formally recognize their counterparts Allow autonomy amongst staff (Andrioti et al., 2017)
CONCLUSION A sense of community on nursing units are essential. Positive work environments are contributed to increased staff satisfaction, increased staff retention rates, and increased patient satisfaction. Since staff and patient satisfaction are interconnected, improving both actions are imperative. As reimbursement continues to be based upon patient scores, improving the unit’s community has a direct impact on potential funds.
WHICH MANAGEMENT STYLE ARE YOU?
REFERENCES Andrioti, D., Skitsou, A., Karlsson, L. E., Pandouris, C., Krassias, A., & Charalambous, G. (2017). Job satisfaction of nurses in various clinical practices. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 10(1), 76. Retrieved from http://hx8vv5bf7j.search.serialssolutions.com.ezproxy.fau.edu/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Job+Satisfaction+of+Nurses+in+Various+Clinical+Practices&rft.jtitle=International+Journal+of+Caring+Sciences&rft.au=Despena+Andrioti&rft.au=Alexandra+Skitsou&rft.au=Leena+Eklund+Karlsson&rft.au=Constantinos+Pandouris&rft.date=2017-01-01&rft.pub=Professor+Despina+Sapountzi+-+Krepia+Publisher+of+the+International+Journal+of+Caring+Sciences&rft.issn=1791-5201&rft.eissn=1792-037X&rft.volume=10&rft.issue=1&rft.spage=76¶mdict=en-US.
REFERENCES Bryne, S. (2014, June, 2). 4 elements to creating a “Sense of Community” by Dr. David McMillian [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://thecommunitymanager.com/2014/02/06/4-elements-to-creating-a-sense-of-community-by-dr-david-mcmillan/ Hill, L. & Lineback, K. (2012, April 3). Good managers lead through a team[Blog post]. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2012/04/good-managers-lead-through-a-t Hilton, N., & Sherman, R. O. (2015). Promoting work engagement: One medical Center’s journey. [PDF file]. Nurse Leader, 13(6), 52-57. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/nicke/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEd ge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/Final%20Article.pdf Interprofessional Education Collaborative. (2011). Core competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice [PDF file]. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/nicke/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_ 8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/IPECReport.pdf.
References Marquis B. L., & Huston, C.J. (2017). Leadership roles and management function in nursing: Theory and application. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer. Salas, E., Sims, D. E., Klein, C. & Burke, C.S. (2003). Can teamwork enhance patient safety? [PDF file]. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/nicke/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEd ge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/Forum_V23N3_teamwor ksafety.pdf Sherman, R. O. (2017). The leader coach [PDF file]. Nurse Leader, 15(3), 154-155. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/nicke/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEd ge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/Leader%20Coach%20Ed itorial.pdf.