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Weekly Q&A: Rewarding skilled bedside nurses

HCPro's Weekly Update on the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®*, April 10, 2007

This week, a reader asks how to reward bedside nurses for their skills while keeping them at the bedside. Read the response below from our advisor Meryl Montgomery, RN, MSN, ANCC Magnet Recognition Program® project director, director of learning center at the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, GA.

Q: How can hospitals reward bedside nurses for their skills while keeping them at the bedside?

A: Tapping into a participative management style that showcases shared governance; creating a strong consultation and resource atmosphere; and dedicated personnel policies and programs help reward nurses for their skills while keeping them at the bedside.

Here are a few tips on rewarding bedside nurses:

• Develop a fund for gift certificates to restaurants or stores that can be given to staff who show outstanding performance, work extra shifts, have innovative ideas, or exemplify teamwork.
• Give verbal acknowledgement at staff meetings; post thank you letters received from patients for nursing leaders and peers to view; create a seasonal "thank you" board or wall for coworkers to recognize each other; and include recognition in unit newsletters, on unit Web sites, or in the hospital newsletter.
• Give nurses the time and support to participate in unit or organization-wide councils; attend educational seminars; serve as preceptors, mentors, and affiliate faculty; promote community health through speaker's bureaus and health fairs; and participate on self-scheduling task forces and research.

Editor's note: Do you have a question for one of our advisors? If you'd like us to consider your query for publication, please send it to Cameran Erny.

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