Brag about nurses in the local paper
When patient satisfaction surveys came back with complaints about the ED at Provena-United Samaritans Medical Center (USMC) in Danville, IL, the morale of nurses was adversely affected, recalls Mary O’Brien, RN, quality improvement coordinator for the ED.
"Some of the complaints were minor, yet they were demoralizing to our nursing staff," she reports. "Nurses had been working in overdrive during the apex of the influenza epidemic in 1999, as well as the commotion of making our hospital Y2K-ready."
At a committee meeting, O’Brien suggested sending a letter to the editor of a local newspaper about the ED staff. "The idea was to make the community aware of all the positive things that the ED staff do for them," she explains.
The letter was published, and it gave morale a boost, says O’Brien. "Nurses felt good about the publication of all the good things they do," she adds. "They said that having the community aware of their positive side makes taking the negatives a little easier." Here is the letter the ED had published in a local newspaper:
Dear Editor:
It’s coming soon . . . the night of the new millennium when the whole world will hold its breath waiting for the dawn of Jan. 1, 2000. Throughout that night, we will be there . . . awake, ready, and prepared to care for you and your family should you need us.
We are the staff of the Emergency Department at Provena-United Samaritans Medical Center, and we will be there.
We are a staff of more than 50 professionals. Among us, we have over 38 college degrees, 340 years of nursing experience, 14 registered nurses certified by the state of Illinois in trauma care, and a multitude of specializations as providers in advanced cardiac life support, pediatric advanced life support, basic and advanced trauma support, mobile intensive care nursing, prehospital nursing care, grief support, hemophiliac support group, crisis intervention, and more.
We have been there when your child woke up screaming in the night with an ear infection.
We have been there for your parents when they became ill and were sent to us from the nursing home.
We were there when a church exploded in Danville. The emergency staff received and treated more than 30 patients in two hours’ time . . . an impressive record for a disaster.
We have been there to help you breathe when the asthma attacked without warning.
We have been there to give you the clot-busting drugs you needed for your heart attack or stroke.
We have been in the back of the ambulance with you when you needed to go elsewhere for specialized care.
We have pounded your chest and jump-started your heart when everything stopped.
And we are there, in the background, grieving with you and your family when all attempts to save your loved one’s life have failed. We, too, feel the loss.
The Emergency Department staff at Provena USMC went to your child’s school and taught safety rules for Halloween, bikes, summertime, and baby-sitting.
We have assisted in the training of the EMT and paramedic professionals who service Danville and the surrounding communities.
We have taken part in the set-up and training of first-responder stations at your workplace.
We have trained in the handling of hazardous materials to cover any possible industry accident that could potentially occur in the Danville area.
And we are there for you.
We are not perfect. We have our faults. We have made mistakes, just like everyone else. But we are ready and prepared.
And in all the confusion, turmoil, and excitement that the millennium may bring . . . one thing will remain constant. We will be there for you.
Emergency Department Staff, Provena-United Samaritans Medical Center
Source
For more information about submitting a letter to the editor praising nursing staff, contact: Mary O’Brien, RN, BSN, Emergency Department, Provena-United Samaritans Medical Center, 812 N. Logan Ave., Danville, IL 61832. Telephone: (217) 443-5221. Fax: (217) 443-5269. E-mail: [email protected].
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