Every May, we celebrate Nurses Week (May 6-12) and National Hospital Week (May 9-15). Both occasions are an opportunity to highlight and honor the essential role of health care systems and professionals in keeping us healthy as individuals and as communities. Fittingly, National Hospital Week always falls on the week of Florence Nightingale’s birthday – May 12 – as hospitals are empty vessels without the nurses who serve in them.
Approximately 250,000 active registered nurses live and work in Florida. Their work is diverse – from hospitals and nursing homes to primary care practices and mobile clinics. Their mission, however, is singular: to care for the hurt, the sick, and the vulnerable and to promote health.
Last year,both National Hospital Week and Nurses Week took on a new level of significance. The COVID-19 crisis challenged hospitals and their workforce as never before, and no institution was spared.
The toll taken on every health care professional from COVID-19 was substantial. Those working in our emergency departments, ICUs and with patients hospitalized with COVID-19 put their lives on the line. Some, tragically, lost their lives as a result. The physical exhaustion and emotional repercussions, too, were real. The impacts on health care workers who were furloughed or laid off because of the suspension of elective procedures and the closure of office-based practices were also serious.
This year is different. The coronavirus is still with us, but with more advanced treatments and vaccines, more hopeful times are ahead. This does not mean that our frontline workers no longer need our support. The opposite, in fact, is true. As we emerge from the worst of the pandemic, now is the time not only to thank our nurses for their sacrifices but also to double down on our investment in them. One of the ways we do this is by meaningfully engaging them in shaping the future of our institutions and the health care system as a whole.
For the last decade, hospital leaders focused on employee satisfaction in part because it is critical for patient satisfaction and good outcomes. One study of nurses’ job satisfaction, for example, found that a 25 percent increase in nurse job satisfaction was associated with an overall increase in quality of care between five and 20 percent.
Today, that focus on job satisfaction must include soliciting their experiences from the last year in order to make purposeful changes that improve patient care as well as sharing information about the financial and operational challenges facing hospitals.
Nurses’ work at the bedside is shaped by policy, operational and financial forces that may be outside the scope of their clinical practice but are very much relevant. We can help our nurses by engaging them and empowering them to take part in these important topics including:
– How hospital financing and reimbursement works. From private insurance to supplemental payment programs, health care financing is complex. But that complexity cannot be an excuse for not sharing information on how these financing forces directly impact clinicians’ ability to do their essential work. When these programs are threatened, we need an army of advocates to protect them.
– How to ensure supply chain stability and flexibility. No one was more affected by PPE shortages than our nurses and other frontline health care workers. Their experiences deserve to be heard.
– The appropriate role of technology in health care. From telemedicine to AI, engaging our workforce in the development and implementation of health care technology will ensure that it is making health care better for our patients.
– How to overcome vaccine hesitancy. Year after year, nurses rank as the most trusted profession in America. We must leverage their voices to make sure that questions about COVID-19 vaccine safety and effectiveness are answered clearly, logically, and with compassion and respect.
The post-COVID challenges for health care institutions are significant. Engaging nurses is how we meet these challenges head on, ensure meaningful job satisfaction, and position Florida as the nation’s health care leader.
