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| Not Just A. . . . . . , Just Asleep: Perceptions of Ourselves as Nurses |
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by Lauren Jones, RN, Ph.D. - September 13, 2010
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When was the last time you heard (or said): "Sorry, I can’t do that; I'm just a …”?) The endings to that phrase may include:
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staff nurse
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employee here
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technical nurse
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new grad
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woman
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peon
Hearing (or saying) comments like the above speaks to the powerlessness most of us feel at some time in our lives. The keys to feeling stronger lay in identifying the source of this powerlessness and developing strategies to overcome it.
A basic source of powerlessness is in our perceptions of ourselves as Individuals. Many of us enter jobs and relationships with pretty minimal expectations. You can hear it in our responses: "The job's not bad"; "I hear it is worse at Memorial Hospital"; "At least he doesn't beat me." Why do we often view our careers and/or our relationships as something to be endured, not enjoyed? From a career aspect, what are your expectations about being a nurse? Why did YOU choose nursing? Was it because you like taking care of people; because the pay is fair; because the hours aren't bad; or did you really ever think about it?! Maybe it was because you knew YOU could make a difference?
Do we (you) really feel that we (you) make a difference in our jobs? If we weren't at our current place of employment, do we really believe that there would be a hole or loss? Or, do we believe that "they'd post my position and hire a warm body"? My consulting experience has shown me that many of us would choose the latter comment because, unfortunately, we may not believe that we are special or even count. Sometimes that feeling of unimportance is so overwhelming that we numb ourselves to reality and figuratively fall "asleep." We just go through the motions of our jobs, our relationships and our lives. Wake Up!
Many nurses would not believe that each person has unique gifts and talents that make them special. That without their gifts and talents an organization WOULD be at a loss; that there WOULD be a hole. The people we work with and care for know about these gifts and talents. Why don't we see ourselves as others do?
For Shared Governance to thrive, it is imperative that we as nurses identify and overcome our feelings of powerlessness and inferiority. How can we build OUR self-esteem, and then help others build theirs? A small, well written, article by Roy Blitzer, Colleen Petersen and Linda Rogers in the February 1993 issue of “Training and Development”, succinctly lists five ways to build self-esteem.
These five ways are worthy of exploration:
1. Make people feel uniquely valuable :
Acknowledging and celebrating our own diversity helps others value their own. It also decreases; the chances of playing the game of "the only way to make myself look better is to make someone else look worse." This strategy focuses on nurses as individuals, not positions.
2. Make people feel competent:
Most nurses feel competent when they can see the results of their thinking, ideas, actions, etc... Recognition of accomplishments encourages risk-taking, promotes continuous improvement, and builds pride in oneself. No longer is it acceptable to say to employees: “of course you're doing a nice job, if you weren't I'd tell you." We ALL need to hear: "good job", "well done", "thanks" and "you DO make a difference!
3. Make people feel secure:
The key to making people feel secure is to give them clear-cut expectations through coaching and consistent communication. As we watch growing numbers of healthcare organizations downsize and merge, it's important to communicate honestly. Security is not communicated by saying "you'll always have a job here; you'll never have to worry." WAIT A MINUTE! As adults we can deal more effectively with the truth and with actual information, not with pacifying, empty guarantees.
4. Make people feel empowered:
Who knows patient care better than those at the bedside with observations and hunches? Are nurses in your organization encouraged to question and develop strategies to answer their questions? Or, do we only value the DOING and not the THINKING in our organizations? Real problem- solving instills ownership and decreases the powerlessness discussed earlier.
5. Make people feel connected:
Creating opportunities for team development is important. That means real teams, not team nursing. Do all nurse s on the unit have the opportunity to discuss their expectations of working together? What kind of work environment do nurses want? How do we treat each other in our work place?
Candid discussions of these expectations create a lively work environment where nurses help each other grow as individuals. . So, the next time you're asked to do something, to give an opinion, or make a decision, respond with: ''I'm JUST ... a valuable member of the team; a talented professional with unique gifts; a nurse, and a POWERFUL one!”
Realizing that we are all "works in progress‟ may create the awareness that none of us are “just-a…”; we’re just asleep! WAKE UP! To encounter the wonderful challenges facing our profession and healthcare, we must have professionals who recognize value and CELEBRATE their myriad gifts and talents.
Celebrate yours today!
References
Blitzer, R., Peterson, C., and Rogers, L. (1993). “How to Build Self Esteem”.
Training and Development. February,pp.58-60
The Journal of Shared Governance; Vol.1, Issue 1, January, 1995
If any of you can identify with this, what did you do to change? This new column will help you move beyond the "Just-a" mentality by specifically answering your questions. There are many topics that have been spawned from this hierarchical posture that puts a lot of us at the bottom of the list, including lateral violence. We look forward to receiving your questions through the comments form below or email directly by clicking here.
Dr. Jones has lectured across the US and in Kazakhstan as the Chief Continuous Quality Improvement Consultant for JCAHO in the '90's. She primarily uses humor in her on-line and in-person discussions and tells groups that her MSN in Psychiatric Nursing and her PhD in Organizational Behavior have allowed her to move from neurotic individuals to neurotic organizations! Currently, she teaches Leadership in the BSN program at San Diego State University.
The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
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| Lauren Jones |
on 27 Sep 2010 at 2:07 pm |
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There's an interesting defense mechanism that many of us use: the only way to make yourself feel better, is to make somebody else feel worse. We can't wait for others to change: we'll all be very old!! :)
Your last comment re: staffing in LTCs is hard to respond to, because Nursing costs are all bundled with care facilities' costs. I wish we were able to define our costs/hr/acuity. |
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| Afraid to post my name (CT) |
on 27 Sep 2010 at 1:59 pm |
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How easy do you think it would be to remember to say "Great job?", or even "Thank you!" if you were overworked on a daily basis?
I am an LPN and much of the work available is in private LTC or rehab. The Nurses are often overworked and unappreciated. Many Nurses stay after their hours unpaid. I so often see one Nurse bashing another Nurse's work as if it is the only way they will get recognized-having nothing to do with patients' well being- if they really cared about the patient they'd have fixed the "problem" first or at least inquired as to what they were concerned about- Why do people become like this?
Why are staff ratios in private LTC so unacceptable???. Why do Nurses pretend that this issue does not exist when asked by outsiders? |
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| Lauren Jones |
on 26 Sep 2010 at 1:48 pm |
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| Your comment was great. It illustrates how we don't do enough "Atta-girls and atta-boys'. It's interesting to watch staff nurses try and ask their manager if they're doing a good job, and the response is often: Of course you're doing well, if you weren't, I'd be the first to tell you!" Hopefully, we can each find one thing to comment positively about today. |
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| Lauren Jones |
on 26 Sep 2010 at 1:45 pm |
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| RM: Your passion alone will allow you to continue to potentiate our profession! |
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| Martha Y. EspiMart (Los Angeles, California) |
on 26 Sep 2010 at 2:01 am |
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Article is encouraging and exciting! In my 15 years, I have always practice this concept. I have observed co-workers being so surprise when compliments have been given to them. But after, they always come to me eager to share their problem solving and new ideas to improvise.They know someone actually is interested. And I am genuinely sincere. Because of this, I have been told in a sublte way, that I shouldn't have to "kiss butt" !!. That was discouraging!.soo;;; I tried an experiment, I kept quiet for awhile. It came back to me that I was stuck-up and I thought I was "all that and a bag of chips!" lol. I decided personal satisfaction was more satisfying to me than what unhappy people thought about my encouragement to others. The people that commented to me, I told them their honesty was admirable and thank them for being upfront. There is always something a nurse does that is to be praised. Turn something negative into a positive. Their surprise look on their face, made me smile. I think, they actually felt good.
Sincerely,
MY Espimart RN |
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| Early RM (Albuquerque) |
on 22 Sep 2010 at 1:25 pm |
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When I was a "hot young nurse" in the sense that I was not afraid to take on any job from OB delivery, premee nurse now called NICU, Post Op Cardiac Surgery at UCLA in the year before any kind of sucessful transplants expect kidneys,
burn nuring supervisor, nursing instructor of LPN/LVNs
charge in a busy ER dept, and various med-sirg iunits
I primarily worked in critical care settings for almost 20 years.
Then I discovered Home Care in the beginning of Medicare, and worked with Hospice in the early years, and did lots of special duty with dying patients at home when Insurances or
people were rich enough to pay for it.
Then six years as a psyche nurse until my family became ill and I left paid nursing to care for parents and brother until they died the same year. Then I experienced Lyme disease, progressive in 98 2003 and 2005 until I found a doctor who cured me in 18 months.
I was pretty discouraged about ever finding a job again after my retirement years roll on. But I did in home care with a company that went belly up a year ago. Now I am wanting to
find a job in hospice and having difficulty with the gap of 10 years of nursing family and my illness with Lyme.
I am fit as a fiddle and want to go back to the profession I love and have loved for 48 uears.
Just a Nurse? I have almost done it all and want to be a productive part of our profession again in the field I feel blessed to work in, Hospice in Albuquerue where so far there is No ticks that carry Lyme disease. |
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| Lauren Jones |
on 19 Sep 2010 at 8:17 pm |
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| Gary: It is disappointing to learn that Northern Indiana doesn't foster shared governance. I helped Mayo develop shared governance about 15 yrs. ago and not all nurses buy-into the concept. It has to be marketed to them and focus on" WIIFM: what's in it for me?" |
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| Gary Dyarman (Northern Indiana) |
on 19 Sep 2010 at 4:54 pm |
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| Bravo! I totally agree and share your view. As Nurses were are more than a Job description and a hole to fill on a schedule. Coming from a state where Shared Governance thrived to an area where it has never been heard of and there is no wish from the hospital systems to allow it to develop it makes all the difference in the Nursing care we provide to our patients. Please Wake up all you nurses in Northern Indiana, you have nothing to loose but your low self-esteem as nurses in the system. |
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| Janice |
on 16 Sep 2010 at 5:41 pm |
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| Janice: Thanks for your positive feedback! I had a colleague who told me that he wanted to finish his BSN but that he'd be too old after the two year program. He said: "Do you know how I'd be in two years and I said, "Yeah, the same age, but with a BSN.". Think about returning. There are great NP programs and our profession deserves the best!! |
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| Janice Kay Baron (Greenville North Carolina) |
on 16 Sep 2010 at 2:55 pm |
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Excellent article. And I do fall into the category of a nurse who just recently used the phrase "just a nurse". That is because that is the way many nurses are treated, not only by doctors and civilians, but by their own supervisors. And that is a shame. Health care is a very difficult place to work now and it is not getting any better. I have been a nurse since 1967, and I do not see a significant difference today. Unfortunately, the only way I believe I could make a difference is to become a Nurse Practitioner. But I am too old for that, and that is a sad commentary on someone with my experience. I only hope there are some nurses that can use these suggestions in a positive manner. I should send this to my supervisor, but it would do no good.
Thank you,
Janice Kay Baron, RN, MPH |
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