5 West Nursing

I just came out of an ICU mandatory meeting. It felt more like a pep rally to me. I don’t know if it was a good one given the current circumstance. We’ve been working really short lately and morale is somewhat low. The main speaker was our new CNO. Wow, I didn’t think we had one. Never saw one in 3 years that I’ve been working here. Like a whiff of fresh air she “talked nurse” to us. Of course, this doesn’t come without a bit of skepticism on our part (at least for me). After all, how many times do you hear management build you up on lip service and come short on delivery? I like all the ideas she presented thus far… “take care of yourself”, “take care of each other”, “we’re working for you not against you”… I’ve heard it all. I’d rather see it. You know the cliche… “Action speaks louder than words.”

She went on to tell us that our director was straddling a fence… made of barbed wire. I guess you can say being in management, you’re middle man between making your boses (the board of hospital administrators) happy, as well as making your subordinates happy. Hmmm… I wonder who built the darn fence in the first place? Nevertheless, the new CNO wanted us to work as a unified nursing team… not just ICU, but throughout the hospital. Overall I think it is a grand idea… I just hope the higher ups have the balls to back her up. She made me think deeper when she said, we’re in the “business of nursing”. Not only do we take care of sick people, we also have to do it with the limited resource we have, an therefore we have to be creative. I guess she’s right. We’re not only nurses… we’re scientists, businessmen (and women), mother, father, brother, sister, auditors, etc, etc. You name it, that’s what we are.

Overall the message was… just wait and see… and wait… and wait… and wait again, just like before… because CNOs don’t last very long especially if hospital administration and corporate officers control everything. Even if you have the best and grandest idea in the world hear this… NOTHING WILL HAPPEN UNLESS YOU CAN PULL SOME CORPORATE STRINGS… because the bottom line is… THEY ARE PULLING YOUR STRINGS! SO… LET’S GET ON WITH THE SHOW SHALL WE?