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Don't let your staff's batteries run out

Nurse Leader Weekly, April 5, 2004

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On a busy unit, staff have little time to recharge. When it comes to rejuvenating employees, of course, nothing beats a vacation or a day off. Although these are much-needed breaks from the work environment, they are often necessarily limited. Therefore, as a manager you must help staff reenergize on a daily basis. The most important role you play is by sending out one simple message: "You must take your break."

If you know your staff are skipping their meal breaks and you do not respond by stressing the importance of those or by facilitating those breaks, you are sending an unspoken affirmation of the behavior.

Review how staff organize their assignments. Ask yourself whether an employee's failure to take a break a self-inflicted problem. Perhaps staff members elect not to take their breaks because they don't want to eat alone. If this is the case, help employees to understand that skipping a break is their personal choice, but not a practice supported by management. Make it clear that you encourage employees to take breaks, and inform them of the benefits of time away from the unit.

If staff never see their manager take a break, why should they feel it is important for them to take time off from the unit? Set an example by

• joining them for some of their breaks
• offering ideas on how to organize assignments and patient care so that they can take their breaks
• providing a "lunch and learn" that includes a short program on stress management and the benefits of taking breaks on the job Tip: Offer this twice a day so that all nurses can attend.

Source: Surviving the Nursing Shortage: Strategies for Recruitment and Retention, HCPro, Inc., http://www.hcmarketplace.com.

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