Can we bring JOY back to nursing?

Written By Amberly Barry

The day you graduate from nursing school, pride and joy flood the space. But fast forward a year and the joy is gone. According to the American Nurses Association (2023), almost 18% of newly licensed registered nurses quit in the first year. After years of study and a wealth of knowledge to save lives and improve the health of our nation, almost 1 in 5 quit.

 

According to the ANA Resource Hub, the reasons for leaving vary:

 

1.     Burnout

2.     Job demands

3.     Salary

4.     Understaffing

5.     Lack of leadership

6.     Incivility

7.     Undervalued

 

So, how do we retain and engage our nurses early on and often, to keep these valued resources? I propose that strategies that include fostering JOY is essential.

 

So, what is JOY?

JOY is a feeling of happiness. A sense of well-being.

How do we create more JOY in healthcare? 

Start with better COMMUNICATION and a focus on building the kind of community that fosters trust. Enhance opportunities for nurses to be heard. Lead communication with a tone of caring and love. Provide many and varied opportunities to communicate from social media to handwritten letters. Create a family. Imagine a work force of friends who truly want to see each other at their next shift.

 

ENGAGE nurses when they are not at work. This may seem counterintuitive when many nurses do not want to think about work once they finish their shifts for the week. But engaging with JOY by connecting with incentives for shift pick up, showering with rewards for tenure milestones and hosting communities that enable nurse interactions and friendship building outside of work. Fitness teams, movie nights and children play dates can be supported with work sponsored discounts and gift cards on a community board.

 

And finally, create employee RECOGNITION in a consistent cadence, with true, unapologetic JOY. A reminder of how nurses are valued. How they are truly making a difference in the lives of their patients. Moments of appreciation every week, not just during nurse appreciation week. Recognize the small things. Thank nurses for being mentors, for covering shifts, for providing feedback. Balance the quality measure results with recognition of improvements over areas of concern.

It’s time to be more concerned with caring than evaluations and more excited to spread JOY than to criticize. Balance is important but always lead with creating the space where everyone wants to work.

JOY is a feeling.

By leading with JOY and living a JOYFUL life with intention, we can spread the love.

For a solution that allows a platform to build incentives and a community of JOY, check out Gratia Health. https://www.gratiahealth.com/

Amberly Barry
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