As a registered nurse as well as an attorney, I see some nurses at what seems to be the lowest of their times. They have been accused of violating the Nurse Practice Act and now have charges pending against their license. They share with me the frustrations that they experienced in the nursing practice and how they found themselves in this position. The frustrations that they’ve shared are of the same type that I had in nursing over 30 years ago.
You see, many of us went into nursing because it was our “calling.” We truly wanted to help people. Unfortunately, we found ourselves in a position where we seemed to never have enough staff, we were constantly asked to do more with less, we had unfair schedules and assignments as well as, if we spoke our minds, we would get in trouble.
The profession I thought I was entering was one where nurses supported fellow nurses and had each other’s back. We worked together as a team because we genuinely cared about our patients and wanted them to get better. We loved spending the time with our patients and making a difference for them in their time of need.
This is the nursing I signed up for, not the other. Now, over 3 decades later, I see nurses continue to have the same problems and even more! I thought changes would have made by now so nurses could step in their power and be a change agent to improve patient care because, after all, the only reason why hospitals are in business is because patients need us, the nurses, for their care.
For the last 16 years I have owned my own law firm. Owning one’s own business and being an entrepreneur is the greatest form of personal growth. Everything in my business is totally dependent on me. So, if my business was going to grow, I needed to grow. I attended numerous programs on personal growth and business development.
I realized that the principles that I have been learning would be applicable to the nursing profession to help nurses speak their minds, stand in their power and be a change agent to improve patient care.
The answer was simple: nurses need to use their GIFTS to be fulfilled.
GIFTS is an acronym where “G” is for the word “giving.” Nurses are naturally giving to their patients. But when nurses give to each other, help each other and work together as a team while having each other’s back, it is a much more pleasant work environment. No more lateral violence!
Also, nurses need to be giving to themselves. A lot of dissatisfaction in nursing comes from being overworked and stressed out. When we don’t give to ourselves and instead take on numerous extra shifts, it may help our pocketbook but not our wellbeing.
The letter “I” in GIFTS stands for the word “integrity.” Obviously, nurses need to be honest in their documentation. But they also need to be honest with themselves and each other. We need to be able to communicate what we’re feeling in a positive constructive way to get the support that we need. If nurses can communicate and be in integrity about what is going on with them with a solution in mind, nurses can feel even more fulfilled and things will change.
“F” is for “focus and follow through.” Certainly as a nurse, being focused and following through with the task at hand is of the utmost importance. There is an adage called “Parkinson’s Law” which says things take only as much time as you give it. Therefore, if you think to yourself that I’m going to get this procedure done in X number of minutes, you’d be surprised at how quickly you can accomplish your goal. Fulfillment comes from being able to accomplish things and being focused in the moment. That’s because when you’re focused with the task at hand and the person that you’re with, your interactions will be much more meaningful than if you are thinking about what happened at home before you came to work or all the things ahead of you that you must complete.
“Trust” is the word depicted by the letter “T” and it means trust your gut. Nurses have an inner GPS which guides them when something is wrong with a patient. So many times we talk ourselves out of the situation, making excuses and being afraid that if we report the problem to the physician, the physician will be mad. Your gut is there for a reason. Use it!
Lastly is the letter “S” stands for “source.” You are the source of everything that happens in your practice. Being the source is a much more powerful position in which to stand because otherwise, if you’re blaming the hospital, your unit or manager for not having enough staff, if you’re blaming the hospital for requiring nurses to do non-nursing functions or your charge nurse that she gave you a difficult assignment, then basically you’re helpless and at the effect of everyone else.
By being the source and standing in the position of responsibility, you have a choice and, of course, choice gives you freedom. You may not like the choice that you have in front of you but you do have a choice.
I share these tools as well as tools from 10 other nurse authors in my book “From Frustrated to Fulfilled: The Empowered Nurse’s System.” Nursetogether.com is graciously providing a $5.00 discount to any nurse who would like to be fulfilled. Simply go http://www.empowerednursesbook.com and use the promo code “NT2015.”