Beleaguered Nurses Need Empowerment

As a nursing leader at a large health care organization, I feel the way to change the trend of Florida losing nurses to other states or other industries is to help nurses, whether at the bedside or in a management position, feel empowered to get involved in solving problems and creating solutions.

To combat the shortage and hold on to our nurses, we at Hospice of Palm Beach County have created ways to delegate the workload so it is even across the care team. Staff workgroups conduct SWOT (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats) analysis and address problems identified by clinicians and patients. This has encourages our nurses to act and truly become leaders, which is especially important in a hospice setting where the role of the interdisciplinary team is essential to providing quality patient care. This "shared care" philosophy has maximized quality care and reduced work stress.

Our teams have embraced this new philosophy and it is making an incredible difference in promoting nurse and staff retention in the hospice industry. While factors such as competitive pay and manageable case loads are important, they are not the sole decision-makers for engaged nurses committed to providing quality patient care. We need to recognize the other factors and do what we can to hold on to these valuable professionals.

Jacqueline Lopez-Devine
Registered Nurse and Vice President of Patient Services
Hospice of Palm Beach County