Employee Retention Requires Communication

By MArti WeBB slAy

Keeping staff positions filled in today’s economy is a continuing challenge for hospitals. Two chief nursing officers say that that it is essential to engage with employees and build a culture of teamwork in order to retain associates and build morale.

Russell Harbin, MSN, RN, who serves as CNO at Medical West Hospital, says the nursing staff most often lists workplace stress as the reason for leaving bedside nursing. “We are trying to focus on management being out on the floor with the staff about 60 percent of their day, so the staff doesn’t feel like they’re drowning,” he said.

He strives to be visible by making several daily rounds himself. “When I say visibility, I mean doing more than just asking employees how they are,” he said. “When we see that they are really busy, we want to offer our help, like maybe giving medicine while the nurse attends to something else. We are evolving into a management style where if we have the skill set to do something, we get in there and do it.

“It’s important to provide support on all shifts. Our managers meet with night shift and weekend staff once a month. A lot of times, the night shift and weekend staff tend to be forgotten. We have started focusing on them to make them feel equally important. That has helped our night shift staff feel more engaged.”

Helping new hires fit in is also important. “I personally meet with every nurse who hires into the hospital at the six-month mark,” he said. “They come to my office, and we have a sit-down. I ask about how it’s going for them, how they are doing with their manager, how the orientation went. That’s been very positive, and we’ve gotten great feedback from that.”

Amy Shelton, MSN, RN, who is CNO at Ascension St. Vincent’s, says communication goes both ways, and listening to associates means responding to their concerns. “We have focused on the wellbeing of our associates,” she said. “They’ve said they need a more flexible schedule, and we’ve made that happen. We’ve always let our associates have a voice, but it’s more critical now than ever. Any good leader needs to hear what the associates have to say, whether it’s what you want to hear or not. It’s important that the associate has a voice and that we respond.

“We have associate engagement surveys, and most important, we have taken those results and made changes. We have created forums for the associates to have their voices heard, and we’ve made pathways to make sure responses get back to the associates.”

One such response has been the

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 5)