Evaluation of meaningful recognition programs in three colleges of nursing.

BACKGROUND: The nursing faculty shortage in the United States presents a challenge to maintaining a robust healthcare workforce. Meaningful recognition (MR) is an evidence-based practice that improved nurse burnout (BO) in the clinical setting. There is limited literature on its impact on nurse faculty. PURPOSE: Three colleges of nursing implemented The DAISY Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty as an MR program to improve compassion satisfaction (CS) and BO among nursing faculty. METHODS: This project employed a pre- and post-survey design to assess changes in faculty CS, BO, and secondary traumatic stress using the ProQOL Professional Quality of Life version 5. DISCUSSION: The results suggest that while the implementation of MR programs did not significantly alter these metrics, the faculty maintained stable levels of CS despite the stressful COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSION: Additional research is needed to explore the potential for MR to mitigate faculty BO.

Evaluation of the DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem) Award for recognising excellence in nursing.

BACKGROUND: With increasing demand for nursing services worldwide, the onus is on healthcare systems to implement measures to improve retention. The DAISY Award was designed to celebrate nursing with the suggestion that it may improve staff retention. AIM: To describe the experience and impact of winning the DAISY Award. METHOD: Data were collected through virtual semistructured interviews from award winners (n=4), nominees (n=4) and nominators (n=4). An analytical framework was developed to allow the responses of the three groups to be compared. FINDINGS: Four major themes emerged from the responses: awareness of the DAISY Award; the nomination process, the impact on retention and winner benefits. CONCLUSION: Being nominated or winning a DAISY Award had a positive impact on nurses' feelings towards their role. This was a small evaluation in a single organisation, so the value of adopting the DAISY Award for recognising nurses' contributions to patient care merits further investigation, especially with regards to its effects on retention.

The significance of gratitude for palliative care professionals: a mixed method protocol.

BACKGROUND: In palliative care (PC) patients and relatives (P/R) often show their gratitude to the healthcare professionals (HP) who care for them. HP appreciate these displays of gratitude, although the impact of the same has not been examined in detail. Publications analysed tell personal experiences in which HP say that displays of gratitude create sensations of well-being, pride and increased motivation to carry on caring. No systematic examination in PC was found. These aspects related to gratitude may be important in the field of PC, where there is constant exposure to suffering and the preoccupation which arises from wanting to help HP to go on with their work, but it needs closer study and systemisation. The purpose of this study is to understand the significance and the role of the gratitude received from P/R for palliative care health professionals (PCHP). METHODS: A suitable mixed method will be used. The first phase will be quantitative and will consist of a survey, piloted by experts, whose goal is to explore the current situation in Spain as regards displays of gratitude received by HP at PC services. It will be sent by e-mail. The results from this part will be incorporated into the second part which will be qualitative and whose goal is to understand the significance of the experience of receiving displays of gratitude from the perspective of PCHP, using a phenomenological approach. Interviews will be undertaken amongst PCHP. The interview guide will be designed after taking the survey results into account. The project has been granted ethical approval. DISCUSSION: These results are set to provide a key contribution within the context of the growing preoccupation on how to care for HP, how to ensure retention and keep them from resigning, as well as preventing burnout, emotional fatigue and boosting their resilience. In order to do this, it is both interesting and ground breaking, to analyse the repercussion of spontaneous gratitude shown by P/R towards PCHP, to see if this is a useful resource to reduce these problems and to encourage the greater presence of dignity and humanisation, for both those receiving care and for those providing it. This gratitude may be one of these strategies.

Compassion Fatigue and the Healthy Work Environment.

BACKGROUND: Burnout is a concern for critical care nurses in high-intensity environments. Studies have highlighted the importance of a healthy work environment in promoting optimal nurse and patient outcomes, but research examining the relationship between a healthy work environment and burnout is limited. OBJECTIVE: To examine how healthy work environment components relate to compassion fatigue (eg, burnout, secondary trauma) and compassion satisfaction. METHODS: Nurses (n = 105) in 3 intensive care units at an academic medical center completed a survey including the Professional Quality of Life and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses' Healthy Work Environment standards. RESULTS: Regression models using each Healthy Work Environment component to predict each outcome, adjusting for background variables, showed that the 5 Healthy Work Environment components predicted burnout and that meaningful recognition and authentic leadership predicted compassion satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Findings on associations between healthy work environment standards and burnout suggest the potential importance of implementing the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses' Healthy Work Environment standards as a mechanism for decreasing burnout.

Monitoring the health of the work environment with a daily assessment tool: the REAL - Relative Environment Assessment Lens - indicator.

BACKGROUND: Evidence shows that the health of the work environment impacts staff satisfaction, interdisciplinary communication, and patient outcomes. Utilising the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses' Healthy Work Environment standards, we developed a daily assessment tool. METHODS: The Relative Environment Assessment Lens (REAL) Indicator was developed using a consensus-based method to evaluate the health of the work environment and to identify opportunities for improvement from the front-line staff. A visual scale using images that resemble emoticons was linked with a written description of feelings about their work environment that day, with the highest number corresponding to the most positive experience. Face validity was established by seeking staff feedback and goals were set. RESULTS: Over 10 months, results from the REAL Indicator in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory indicated an overall good work environment. The goal of 80% of the respondents reporting their work environment to be "Great", "Good", or "Satisfactory" was met each month. During the same time frame, this goal was met four times in the cardiovascular operating room. On average, 72.7% of cardiovascular operating room respondents reported their work environment to be "Satisfactory" or better. CONCLUSION: The REAL Indicator has become a valuable tool in assessing the specific issues of the clinical area and identifying opportunities for improvement. Given the feasibility of and positive response to this tool in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory, it has been adopted in other patient-care areas where staff and leaders believe that they need to understand the health of the environment in a more specific and frequent time frame.

Predictors of Compassion Fatigue and Compassion Satisfaction in Acute Care Nurses.

PURPOSE: To examine compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction in acute care nurses across multiple specialties in a hospital-based setting. DESIGN: A cross-sectional electronic survey design was used to collect data from direct care nurses in a 700-bed, quaternary care, teaching facility in the southwestern United States. METHODS: A total of 491 direct care registered nurses completed a survey measuring their professional quality of life (burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction). Analysis was conducted to assess for differences between demographics, specialties, job satisfaction, and intent to leave their current position. FINDINGS: Significant predictors of burnout included lack of meaningful recognition, nurses with more years of experience, and nurses in the "Millennial" generation (ages 21-33 years). Receiving meaningful recognition, higher job satisfaction, nurses in the "Baby Boomer" generation (ages 50-65 years), and nurses with fewer years of experience significantly predicted compassion satisfaction. No significant differences were noted across nurse specialties, units, or departments. CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to the literature the impact meaningful recognition may have on compassion satisfaction and fatigue. Our findings provide a potential explanation for the lack of retention of nurses in the millennial generation who leave their positions with limited years of experience. Based on our research, meaningful recognition may increase compassion satisfaction, positively impact retention, and elevate job satisfaction. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Compassion fatigue in nurses has clear implications for nursing retention and the quality of care. Organizations willing to invest in reducing compassion fatigue have the potential to improve financial savings by reducing turnover and adverse events associated with burnout.