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Back to basics: Providing a caring environment

HCPro's Weekly Update on the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®*, October 24, 2006

In the reality of modern nursing, nurses often find themselves too stretched to have any time for in-depth patient interactions. One hospital system in Virginia-Inova Health System-decided it was time to do something about this problem, and its experiment in providing a caring environment for nurses and their patients has shown positive result, such as improved nurse and patient satisfaction.

Karen Drenkard, RN, PhD, CNAA, chief nurse executive and senior vice president of nursing at Inova Health System and Gene S. Rigotti, MSN, CNAA,BC, director of professional practice, worked with nursing staff to transform the work environment on pilot units at Inova by using a two-phased approach.

In Phase I: Improving work processes, Drenkard's team of staff nurses identified issues that prevented them from having time to do their jobs as they wished. In Phase II: Implementing a caring environment, the team began an initiative to use the time saved by solving issues from Phase I to implement human caring projects. This phase was based on Dr. Jean Watson's Human Caring Theory, which concerns learning how to care for oneself, then others, and ultimately to connect with and provide human care for patients. Staff ambassadors and nursing educators worked together to translate the theory into practice.

Source: Adapted from HCPro's Advisor to the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®, October 2006, an HCPro, Inc. publication.

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