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Help Your People Love Their Work (Again)

HELP YOUR PEOPLE LOVE THEIR WORK (AGAIN)

The healthcare industry has been hit with repeated challenges over the last few years, and it has taken a significant toll on its workers.

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The most effective means of increasing engagement and retention, regardless of industry, is to bring people back to their why to help them fall back in love with their work.

Joyce Batcheller, an innovative healthcare leader and Executive Nurse Advisor, says there are key actions leaders can take to make their teams proud of their work so they can feel fulfilled. That, in turn, reminds them that the reason they got into the profession was a good one.

Joyce breaks down how to bring joy and pride back into the workplace through recognition and celebration.

Truth You Can Act On

  1. Build Trust to Drive Engagement

We’ve got to rebuild trust with our staff, and we’ve also got to learn how to really listen to them. What I am finding is that they have a lot to say. They have been through a lot. They have had experiences at both work and at home. We have to listen and give them time and honor what they’ve been through, and really look at and appreciate what they’ve accomplished, and then really begin to look at how do we move forward? It’s really making almost like a formal transition from the craziness that we have been working under and how to now begin to create a new future. We have to get unstuck because if we don’t create the future we want for the nursing profession.

  1. Build Positivity Around What Your People Do

To reignite people’s hearts, we need to really give them time to share something they’re proud of. To tell a patient’s story that really warms their heart. We need to practice appreciative inquiry, where you find out what they’re most proud of to show them where they made a big difference. We focus so much on what the data’s telling us about turnover, burnout, and all these other things and we’re not remembering that there’s a lot of great care being given every single day. We’re getting too stuck on some of the negatives. And we need to start really recognizing the amazing work that people are still doing and the transformational changes that they’re helping to create.

  1. Lead with Data Insights

Other leaders and I were meeting to really look at the outcomes that we saw at every site when it came to patient safety, because we had a goal back in 2005 to get to zero preventable deaths and injuries by 2008. And I can tell you, those were some of the most fun years I had because of that alignment and the accountability that was heightened at each site. But it was also people understanding that it wasn’t to be punitive, it was to figure out what we needed to do as leaders to make the environments better, healthier, and safer so people were set up to be successful in the care that they were delivering. And I used to always say, ‘I want this to be so intuitive that when it’s 3:00 AM on a Saturday morning and the new grad came off of orientation yesterday, that that person knows what to do.’  If we don’t have that sort of thing set up, then we should not be satisfied because we’re going to have errors. And we got to zero on so many metrics and had work that was so stellar.

  1. Standardize Your Systems

I did a lot of standardization in my prior role and it allowed us to move people around more readily. If things are the same, no matter where I show up, I can really hit the ground running and you’re more likely to be able to continue to do the right standards and be set up for success. If you’re trying to figure out all the variations as you go from place to place, you’re more likely to make a mistake. There are nurses who have floated in from other units, there’s a traveler, there’s a new grad who’s come off of orientation three days ago, and you sort of scratch your head and if everything is different in this organization versus the one they were just in, they’re going to make mistakes. And that’s part of the issue that we’ve got to figure out is how do you make those environments where you set people up to be successful?

Book Recommendation:

The Leadership Trajectory by Dr. Patricia S. Yoder-Wise, Karren Kowalski, and Susan Sportsman

Additional Resources:

Listen to the Full Episode: 189:  Help Your People Love Their Work (Again) with Joyce Batcheller

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Showing Up as a Loving Leader

Showing Up as a Loving Leader

When you show up as a loving leader, you help people be the best they can be.

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Dr. Sylvain Trepanier, SVP and System Chief Nursing Officer at Providence, says if you want your team to trust you and feel supported enough to reach their potential, it takes a loving leadership approach. Syl discusses the deliberate behaviors he practices so he can show up authentic, honest, and fully present. Along the way, you’ll learn about his daily rituals to stay grateful and intentionally inspire those around him.
“When you show up as a loving leader, you help people be the best they can be.”

Truth You Can Act On

  1. Love Is the Core to Trust
I remember having a discussion with a nurse who was struggling with substance abuse, and we suspected that something was happening, and I was really worried for her wellbeing. I was a novice leader at the time, but one thing I was good at, even as a novice leader, was listening and making people feel comfortable. So we talked, and she quickly realized that she could trust me and that I would be there for her. And she knew in her heart what had to be done and so we made the decision together. I never thought less of her because of her disease. I shared with her that I would always be there, and then I made sure that I was there when she needed to chat or just someone to listen. Because of my role, I could have just fired her and been done with it, but who knows what would’ve happened with her after that.  
  1. Be a Loving Leader First
One of my favorite quotes is attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt. It goes something like, “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, and a great one inspires people to have confidence in themselves.” When you show up as a loving leader, you help people be the best they can be. Everyone deserves to experience us at our best, and the best way I know how to make that happen is by demonstrating love and warmth in the workplace.  
  1. Routines Are Game Changers
I have this ritual very early in the morning as I wake up. The ritual is partially looking at what does my day look like right now? Who am I going to be meeting with? What’s the purpose of those conversations.? And I ask myself, ‘Just by looking at the folks that I’m going to be meeting with, is there a natural place where I can be very deliberate in inspiring others?” You know, there was a time where I would say, ‘Who am I going to influence today, and why am I going to do that?” And the older I get, the more I realize that that becomes a bit of a forced function. If I approach it that way, I’ll likely be perceived that way. So my change in mindset in saying, ‘Who will I inspire today?’ makes me show up very differently, and it starts there.  
  1. Model Gratitude for Others
What I do around gratitude wasn’t a daily practice for me earlier in my life, though I wish it had been because I find the more I do it, the better I am, and the better I’m experienced by others. Part of my night ritual is I find something that I’m grateful for that happened since I woke up that morning. And sometimes in the moment, I’ll call myself out, ‘I’m like, really? You can’t think of anything better than that? There has to be something else.’ And then I dig a little bit deeper.   Book Recommendation:   Additional Resources:   Listen to the Full Episode: 184: Showing Up as a Loving Leader with Dr. Sylvain Trepanier + David Black  

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Align With Your True North

Align With Your True North

A kind, compassionate, patient nurse leader who inspired Martha from her very first day.

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Martha Leighton’s passion for healthcare started from watching a beloved colleague, Nurse Betty. As a senior in high school, Martha had a job in retail, but when the store closed, she was on the hunt for a new job. Her friend’s father was a doctor – and she luckily was asked to take a role doing filing and much needed office work. This was her first step into healthcare.  
Inspiration for a Lifetime
Enter Nurse Betty: A kind, compassionate, patient nurse leader who inspired Martha from her very first day. Nurse Betty was the head nurse – and a key leader in the physician office. Over her first few weeks, Martha observed how Nurse Betty’s presence made the patients feel more comfortable and she eased their fears, pain, and anxiety.  
“She was constantly dealing with emergencies, upset patients, de-escalating situations, and there was always something to be done. And she also experienced the wonderful things with patients too. She had this innate understanding about what people needed, and that energized me. I loved working with her.”
The experience made her want to become a nurse too – and Martha applied to nursing school that year.  Martha’s experience with Nurse Betty enhanced her natural growth mindset and has guided her career and leadership journey. She believes the best use of her energy – especially now – is developing those around her, listening to others, and getting to know individual work styles.  
Care and Curiosity
Martha’s curiosity and true care for others allow her to have authentic conversations, gain information and listen to ideas from the team – to move things forward, together. Her 1:1 meeting includes questions like:
  • “What are the pebbles in your shoe?”
  • “What can I do for you?”
  • “What do you love most about your role and what else do you want to do?”
  • “What things do you want me to keep in the back of my mind as I do my job?
Engaging in ongoing dialogue expands Martha’s knowledge and capacity to serve by example – She is channeling her own ‘inner Nurse Betty’. She knows what inspires and motivates her teammates – and where there might be opportunities for consolidation or new ideas. As a nurse executive, Martha cares about taking care of others, building relationships, finding new ways to improve, and helping her team continue to advance. 
A Shared Alignment
Like Nurse Betty, Martha believes that ‘meaningful work’ is when there is a shared alignment with a true north: When the caregiver, patient and provider are joined together for the health and wellbeing of the patient. Martha’s own work aligns with her personal true north – and, as she reflects on 2023, she is aiming to find more opportunities that align her individual team members with what makes their work meaningful. 
“I don’t think you can provide good experiences for patients if caregivers are not healthy, aligned, and finding meaning and joy at work. I think meaningful work is whatever I can do to help my patients – and all of the exceptional people I work with who take care of patients. They do the real work. They are the ones who inspire me to do my best work.”

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A Guiding Path Through Experience and Positive Change

A Guiding Path Through Experience and Positive Change

Make sure the healthcare team feels valued and appreciated.

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Dawn Huggins is a nursing leader who is very connected to her cause. It takes a steady and dedicated leader to navigate the changes that arise in healthcare, especially with the challenges of recent times. We hope her insights from before, during and after the pandemic can bring some inspiration and encouragement to you on your healthcare leadership journey.
Lead from your core values.
As a leader, you must know your core values and guiding principles. Knowing and believing your intrinsic values ensure that you will be able to respond appropriately and comfortably in any situation. Dawn shared, “the mentors I gravitate toward are those that are able to see the big picture and negotiate solutions that serve the overall majority. Their decisions are confidently made and rooted in their core values. This inspires me.” Take breaks in your year to do personal planning. Make one of your exercises a core values reflection.
  1. What are your core values?
  2. Why are these values most important to you?
  3. What are examples of how you are living out these values now?
  4. Think about ways to better incorporate your values into your goals and leadership behaviors.
Healthy Environments Enable Meaningful Work 
Meaningful work and a healthy work environment feed off of each other. Over the years, I have learned a lot as I’ve grown in the healthcare industry, especially when it comes to leading a healthy work environment. Here are my top three priorities to propel health and wellbeing on my team:
  • Healthy conflict can lead to positive change. It’s up to us to learn how to handle conflict to be able to have productive conversations that build us. Conflict can be hard, but the more we practice our healthy communication skills, the better the relationship-building experience and the better the outcomes. When done correctly, conflict can help bonding and set the tone for better future collaboration.
  • Respect is appreciated universally. Whether it is your listening skills or how you respond in challenging conversations, respectful behaviors are ones that we should proactively practice. Great leaders are respectful and people want to work for and do great work when they have a respectful leader versus the opposite.
  • People have to feel safe before they can hear anything you are saying. We must build relationships and trust before people will really believe, listen or follow. Be proactive about building psychological safety.
Change for the Better
Multiple crises have led to a perfect storm in healthcare, be it economic changes, aging of the workforce, changing reimbursements, political discord, or generational gaps, but they have given us opportunities for improvement in healthcare. It’s time to do things differently. We have a huge opportunity here and if we cannot stabilize the nursing population, healthcare will implode. We must rethink our current ideas on what is required for a fully functioning nursing team. There are many opportunities for improvement, but I believe our first priority should be stabilizing the nursing staff.
Take a step back, slow down, and actively listen. 
Exhausted and disenchanted workers are not capable of enthusiasm. The best they can give is task-centered work. Hence, when we ask for critical thinking, compassion, and excitement, we are draining a well that isn’t full. Empathize and meet your people where they are and build from there.
Choose a positive attitude and goodness.
Go back to the basics by bringing back the small moments of joy that remind us of our “why”.  We have to start refilling the wells of our teams. Happy nurses equal happy patients. Make sure the healthcare team feels valued and appreciated. For example; make sure they take lunch breaks, debrief after mistakes/codes/errors, talk slower and spend time with them one-on-one. As a leader, you are being watched, and people model or replicate your behaviors. Be intentional about a positive attitude and watch the ripple effect of your comments and smiles across your team. 

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Finding Joy and Inspiration Through Meaningful Work

Finding Joy and Inspiration Through Meaningful Work

I believe that surrounding yourself with strong leadership and folks that really know how to do their job is very, very important.

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Angela Belmont has been a nurse for 39 years. She believes that nursing is a calling to those who work in the healthcare field and feels privileged to do its sacred work. She finds meaning through her work as a nurse leader and continues to find joy and inspiration in each and every day. Angela shared a few of her key learnings throughout her career below. We hope you find some inspiration here.

Opportunity Abounds.

Today, in the nursing industry, the opportunities are so much greater than they were back in the 80s when I graduated from nursing school. Normally, you had two options, you either worked in a hospital or you worked in a doctor’s office but today there is so much opportunity to do so much more than that. As the profession has grown, I think we have really begun to show our value to the medical healthcare team which allows us the opportunity to have so many different niches, if you will. I always strive to inspire young nurses coming out of school to try everything that they can. You’ll know when you’ve found the place that you belong and the place you will continue to work in the years to come. 

Surrounded By Strong Leadership.

I believe that surrounding yourself with strong leadership and folks that really know how to do their job is very, very important. When you can build a team of people who have the same vision and the same outlook in terms of what they want out of their career, you have hit the jackpot. Concentrating more on those around you, those who you bring onto your teams, and really spending time investing in them as individuals, making sure that they know how valuable they are to the team and the mission is so important.

Fill Your Cup.

I believe nursing is a calling and it is sacred work. If you can do meaningful work on a daily basis, you continue to be inspired to find more ways to continue that work. It is so very important to make sure your cup gets filled by what you do each and every day. 

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Leading Well-Being by Example

Leading Well-Being by Example

Embrace all of your experiences and learn from them.

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Dawn Alexander has been a nurse since 1987, in leadership roles for more than 30 years, the last 15 of which were spent in a Chief Nursing Officer role. Dawn grew up with parents who were in leadership positions, which inspired her career aspirations in healthcare leadership. They led by example and it has always anchored and guided her career. 

Dawn has some core leadership learnings that have helped her and may inspire you to take action today:

Embrace all of your experiences and learn from them.

Challenges and failures make us better when we apply the learnings and of course, cherish all the great experiences you get and replicate what you can to help others have a great experience too. I’ve been really blessed with some great opportunities. They weren’t always the most positive, which I believe has made me a better leader. Actually, I’ve had poor leaders be some of my greatest teachers.

I have learned to prioritize and really focus on self-care.

Nurses who are passionate about what they do tend to ignore their own self-care. They push themselves to burn out too often. I’ve done this. I knew better, but I know that I have not always acted on my knowledge. I remember expecting self care from my team, yet I did not prioritize it. I remember some of my direct reports coming saying, “You know, we see where you park every morning. And we know what time you come in and we know what time you leave. You keep telling us that we need to take care of ourselves and be healthy emotionally and physically, but we don’t see you doing the same.” Hearing this really resonated with me and made me more conscious of leading by example.

I’ve learned that if I don’t make myself a priority, nobody else will. And, here’s some ideas of how to incorporate self care more often. Spend time in reflection and maybe even journal your thoughts around things like: what brings you joy or what makes you happy outside of work? For me, it’s getting massages, going shopping, not necessarily buying, but just being in and around that kind of energy. I’ve always been a believer in living a healthy lifestyle, whether it’s eating healthy or doing some kind of aerobic activity. Lately, I’ve started yoga. I think that I am horrible at it, but every time I do it, I feel a little bit better. Doing things that keep your mind and your body healthy is really important. Find the things that bring you joy and commit to scheduling them into your life, regularly. And, work to remove any guilt you experience from the time and resources that you spend on your self care.

I have to be mindful every day of how much time I actually spend working. I confess that I can be a workaholic.12 or 14 hour work days, on a regular basis, can really take its toll. My employees notice and say, “We see you here, 12, 13 hours a day. It’s difficult for us to leave at four o’clock or five o’clock if we still see your car in the parking lot at six and seven o’clock at night.” Be mindful of those hours, the work is still going to be there and it can often be done another day. 

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Advancing Healthcare: Building Relationships to Last a Lifetime

Advancing Healthcare: Building Relationships to Last a Lifetime

Healthcare is Evolving Quickly After nearly 20 years of building The First String family, we realized our work wasn’t done. Healthcare is evolving and changing

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