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Delving deeper into the culture change

Stressed Out Nurses Weekly, August 13, 2007

Last week on StressedOutNurses.com, we focused on a culture change. We presented three unique stories that can help you improve the environment around you. Whether you're an aspiring staff nurse or a nurse manager, bring these ideas with you wherever you go and watch your peers' eyes light up. Here's the second installment:

Each year, nurses at Palmetto Health Baptist in Columbia, SC, anxiously waited to see what gifts they would receive in celebration of Nurses Week. Would it be a mug? Or maybe a lunch bag, a T-shirt, or an umbrella? Although they were always appreciated, these tokens had become somewhat expected.

To celebrate Nurses Week last year, the nursing staff at Palmetto Baptist were determined to change the focus of the week. Rather than focusing on themselves, nursing employees embraced the concept of "Giving Back to the Community," the theme for the celebration.

With great enthusiasm, the nursing staff adopted the idea of a "Shoebox Campaign," a project geared toward helping the less fortunate. Eight community agencies within the Columbia area were chosen to benefit from the Shoebox Campaign. With the agencies' wish lists in hand, employees filled boxes and gift bags with items ranging from toothbrushes and bath soap to backpacks, school supplies, and cleaning products.

Filled shoeboxes or gift bags were wrapped in colorful gift paper in preparation for a presentation to the eight charities at the celebration's conclusion. Employees were given one last opportunity to gather in the hospital's auditorium for a gift-wrapping party on the Monday prior to Nurses Week. There, they sorted, organized, and completed the wrapping of the items.

Sandwiches, drinks, and cookies were provided-along with upbeat background music-as employees made final preparations for the celebration.

For more of this story (plus a whole lot more!), please click here.

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