Staying At The Bedside
Recently I’ve read several articles about why nurses leave the bedside. We all know the sobering fact that hospitals are now run like corporations and seem to be more focused on the bottom line rather than on patient care.
Staffing is usually an issue and that everything that is required is difficult to get done in the time allotted.
Think about it! On a day shift, nurses sometimes have 6 to 8 patients. This means that the nurse has only a little over an hour per patient to perform all the care that is required during the shift. This includes numerous medications, assessments, treatments, vital signs, etc. This does not take into consideration the nurse having to walk up and down the hall to obtain supplies, equipment, medications give and receive report, take a break (What’s that?) and perish the thought that she might have to use the restroom!
However, nurses who do leave the bedside eventually miss it! For one, I know that I do. I miss the interactions with the patients and their families as well as having that one-on-one contact to assist with their health care needs.
So, what can a nurse do if they don’t want to leave the bedside, but no longer want to deal with the pressures of bedside nursing?
I believe change needs to come from within. Rather than complain about it, DO something about it! That may be a task even as simple as changing your mindset.
Indulge me for a minute. Have you ever been a member of a high-performance team? It may have been in high school, on a sports team or even where you are currently working? What are the characteristics?
Some nurses say these characteristics include teamwork, camaraderie, trust, accountability, commitment, working in excellence and that everyone “pulls their weight.” And that is only a partial list.
Think about each one of these characteristics as well as any others that come to mind. Are they a skill set, something that can be learned? Or are they a mindset? Or are they both?
What you will find is that most of these characteristics are mindsets if not actually both. You can’t teach someone to work on a high-performance team because members must adapt and work within those core values.
Can you imagine working on a unit where everyone has each other’s back, they work together as a team and in excellence, they’re supportive, giving and trustworthy? It is truly possible. Everyone just needs to adapt to the same core values and the team needs to remove anyone or anything that is not in line with these values.
Try this exercise with your coworkers to see what you can come up with and see what you get to create and see if that makes bedside nursing just a little bit easier.
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
