The COVID-19 pandemic has touched everyone in some manner over the last 18 months, but those in the healthcare industry have not only been challenged in their personal lives but also in their professional lives in a unique way. Staff who were able to cope well, demonstrating tremendous resilience during 2020 and into early 2021, are not faring as well with the 2021 surge of the variant that is now sweeping across the land.

With 15 years of experience as a national nursing excellence consultant, I have had the opportunity to work with literally hundreds of healthcare leaders from over 200 facilities.  One thing that always stands out is the difference between those who actually ‘walk the talk’ and become role models for processes, professional behaviors, work ethic, attitude, and accountability, and those who don’t.  Successful leaders know that effective delegation is key to handle a broad scope of command by leading through systems.  But

Rounding on employees is helpful to solicit input and promote retention when the work environment is running smoothly and all associates have the information, resources and support they need. But when the world is turned upside down, as it is now from the COVID-19 pandemic, connecting with employees is no longer a “nicety” but possibly a life-saving touch point.

Providing routine, meaningful touchpoints with employees through rounding can result in higher employee satisfaction and retention, but only if the structures, processes, and outcomes of rounding efforts are well-defined and monitored. Conducting “howdy” rounds that don’t explore core problems or respond to key issues can be more detrimental than helpful.  

Employee rounding is a powerful tool to form and maintain relationships in the workplace between leaders and their frontline staff. Progressive, participatory leaders began rounding or “checking in” with their employees long before the relationship between patient satisfaction and employee satisfaction was validated by data and research.

As  new hospitals launch the Nobl Rounding platform we often encounter questions about the role of charge nurses in hourly patient rounding as well as leader rounding on patients. Here are some different ways to utilize charge nurses, depending on the role they fill within your organization.  

It’s a new year and the perfect time to start implementing new tactics to increase employee satisfaction and retention. Vicki Hess, author and Top 5 Healthcare Speaker, shares 18 simple things to do to improve employee engagement in your organization:

This past month, I conducted onsite mock appraiser visits with four re-designating ANCC Magnet Program™ hospitals. These facilities are among the best in the nation, and I was overcome by the excellent outcomes and innovations in care that were evident. I was also amazed at the extra work expected from unit-level nursing managers in these outstanding facilities.