Nursing has a history of poor workplace contexts in which the focus has been on performing and completing tasks, rather than engaging fully with patients. Further, nursing practice is increasingly driven by bureaucratic demands and service requirements, which can result in neglect of the workplace needs of staff. This article describes how a nurse unit manager changed a poor working environment in one surgical unit by using transformational leadership techniques to address procedural employment practices and poor team relationships. With support from nurse educators in the nursing practice development unit, clinical staff engaged in a series of activities that improved their work relationships, as well as professional and clinical development.
Recruitment processes need to discriminate among candidates to ensure that the right person with the right skills is selected for advancement opportunities. An innovative recruitment process using an objective structured clinical examination grounded in best practice guidelines resulted in improved recruitment practices for senior nursing clinical expert roles. Candidates' skills, knowledge, and attitudes in the areas of patient focus, clinical expertise, teamwork, and leadership were assessed using a clinical simulation. Candidates achieving advancement were assessed at 6 months to validate the efficacy of the process.
Magnet® designation is a prestigious recognition given to a hospital for two reasons: excellence in nursing care and outstanding patient outcomes. Professional development specialists are in a primary position to mentor direct care nursing staff to take ownership, accountability, and responsibility for their practice through the cultivation of a report demonstrating Magnet® engagement and readiness. A State of Nursing report was developed, employing the Magnet® components to fortify the commitment to nursing excellence.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.