How can you improve your nursing team's efficiency?

Encourage progression whether its personal, education, career. Don't put up boundaries, empower your team to be the best they can be

To me, optimum staffing is key to prevent burnout and over work. When I speak of optimum staffing, I feel it is important to staff according to acuity and not just budget.

Communication amongst the team is critically important. Nurses are often thought of as the backbone of the healthcare system and that is because we are many in number and also spend a great deal of our time at the bedside with patients. We have a great deal of knowledge and expertise and it is important to share that to better care for our patients.

Nursing is an emotive environment and has a range of communication requirements. The clinical scenario takes precedence of individual feelings which can fracture relationships and it is important to design protected opportunities to communicate clearly as a nursing team. For example I worked in a busy Emergency Department that priorities a "bump-in" and "bump out" where prior to the shift roles were affirmed and expectations set and immediately after the shift there was an opportunity to thank the team, debrief challenges and exit the shift as unified team.

As a result of the holistic approach that is central to nursing, clear, concise and effective communication is paramount. Nurses are often the thread that weaves all disciplines together for the benefit of the patient and styles and approaches to communication need to vary dependent on the audience

Recognize team on the outcome of patient care with value added benefits at end of employee quarter appraisals Individually and collectively

Delegation can sometimes be a difficult task as a nurse, but it is often important to best care for patients. Delegating tasks which you are unable to do due to time constraints or so that other disciplines can be involved is critically important. Relaying when help is needed and what help is needed is extremely important.

Effective delegation is one of the hardest skills in nursing as it requires letting go of control whilst maintaining accountability. Effective delegation requires trust and communication. Use empathy and closed loop communication to ensure that the delegate understand expectations and has the opportunity to express any concerns prior to undertaking the task.

In the face of a growing nursing shortage, we are tasked with making nurses’ jobs easier so that they can do what they do best, care for patients. Streamlining processes and using advanced technology to make documentation seamless with a nurses’ work will be tantamount to success for healthcare organizations of the future. Building organizations that support the nurse will not only make nursing more efficient but will also attract nurses to select organizations. Nurses will flock to the places where they are best supported, making recruitment less costly and retention less challenging.

Streamlining and standardizing processes and procedures are indeed crucial for improving efficiency and quality within an organization. Identifying areas for improvement, analyzing current workflows, and implementing best practices are key steps in this process. Utilizing tools and technology to automate tasks and simplify workflows can further enhance productivity. Evaluating the impact of these changes and making adjustments accordingly ensures continuous improvement. Overall, this approach can help reduce waste, errors, and variability while enhancing team performance!

"Increased variability increases risk" is a well understood concept in business and is reflected in Lean Six Sigma thinking. Nursing needs to prioritise individual needs and person centred care which may appear to oppose standardisation, however standardisation with flexibility can compliment clinical judgment in care. Standardisation where possible is the key to reducing errors, for example maintaining and storing equipment in a standardised way support efficient care by reducing the time nurses spend finding and maintaining equipment.

In my experience, I saw that dictation of care made a streamlined difference with physicians care. Why do we not push this with nursing? Also, let’s remove some of the “fluff” that is “recommended” by those who reimburse. Patients are important, but their caregivers are just as valuable.

The learning is constant in life and definitely in medicine and within nursing. It is important to keep reading and to find opportunities to gain new information on new products, drugs, etc.

Education is a valuable tool but requires constant maintenance and revision. As humans we learn and develop in a range of ways. I think it's important to approach education as a continual process that requires both organisations and individuals to invest in an education process that is adaptable and integrated into the nursing profession. Transactional in-services alone are insufficient in developing the next generation of nurses

Nursing is an emotive job and a vocation for many. The motivation to support those in need is noble but unsustainable. Everyone will have bad days but will need to perform a challenging role in an emotive environment. I think it is important to ensure that nursing is realistic about what motivates hard work including adequate recognition and reward.

Remove non-clinical responsibility. Especially for after office staff and adm go home. Hire more clerks and unit receptionists, have weekend and off hours adm. Nurses are weary of handling administrative complaints, wayfinding, and finding misplaced items.