2-4-6-8 Show how you appreciate!

MVP Board on L&D

What makes a healthy work environment for nurses? There are many components but this article is going to focus on one – the meaningful recognition of nurses. The AACN (American Association of Critical Care Nurses) identified 6 standards for establishing and maintaining a healthy work environment. Number 5 is Meaningful Recognition. The AACN standards states, “Nurses must be recognized and must recognize others for the value each brings to the work of the organization.”

As we look around AAMC, this recognition is evident on many levels and happens as frequently as every shift to yearly intervals: the Nurses Dinner, Professional Nurses Fair, Nurse Excellence awards, Certification Luncheon, Rookie of the Year, the DAISY award, and Patient Satisfaction Banners, just to name a few.

As we gather evidence for the Magnet Document to describe and demonstrate how we recognize and make visible the contributions of nurses, we have come across so many examples. The question today is how does your unit/department recognize your nursing staff? Labor & Delivery has an MVP each shift, NICU has a special recognition pin, shout outs are sent in a weekly newsletter, and so much more. Share the unique way your unit demonstrates the value of the nursing staff and what that means to you or the staff.

-Rita Linnenkamp, RN and Holly Greever, RN