0:00

This particular episode is based on a

0:02

book , and this

0:04

book really focuses on

0:06

accountability

0:08

, ownership and a building

0:11

of culture . And you

0:13

may think , well , what do

0:15

I have to do with that and

0:18

what does this have to do with

0:20

growing your career ? Well

0:22

, growing your career is not

0:24

always about what you're doing in

0:26

the in-between to get from one point to the

0:28

next , but it's also about what are you doing

0:31

in your current work , because

0:33

you're always interviewing , you're

0:35

always preparing yourself for the next step

0:37

. So what are you doing

0:40

in the current to be

0:42

sure that you

0:44

are growing in your current space

0:46

? You're leaving behind

0:49

different practices

0:51

that didn't work

0:53

for you in your current work or may not

0:55

be great for

0:57

where you want to go , because

0:59

what got you here will not get you there

1:02

. What got you here will not get you there , and so

1:04

I want to dig into a lot of

1:06

that in this series

1:08

. So we're going to cover

1:10

things like accountability , ownership

1:12

, empowerment , engagement

1:21

and really the culture , like how do we change the culture of nursing

1:23

? It starts with us individually , and then we will work it out from there

1:25

and I will definitely make

1:27

the connections to what

1:29

does this mean for me in

1:31

everyday life , to

1:33

get me to a place of growing in my

1:36

career , getting career clarity and

1:39

making an impact . So

2:26

I have two master's degrees . My first master's degree

2:29

is well , both of them are in nursing

2:31

, but the first is master's

2:33

in nursing and health systems . Leadership

2:36

was the focus . That's

2:40

what they called it . It used to be . It's the same thing as

2:42

a nursing leadership master's or

2:44

a nursing administration master's

2:47

. It's the same thing . And

2:50

that was

2:52

the catalyst to help me in

2:55

my gap of I

2:58

knew that I wanted to be . I wanted to work

3:00

in what we called it back in the day be . I wanted

3:02

to work in what we called it back in the day

3:04

hospital business , and it's actually

3:13

a budgeted term . But I knew that I wanted to expand beyond the clinical space

3:16

and my expansion beyond the clinical space was not

3:18

it was corporate nursing , but it was . I didn't think

3:20

of it as that , I just thought of it

3:22

as I wanted to get involved

3:25

in data analytics

3:28

, quality improvement

3:30

. I'd learned that that

3:32

was my love . So first

3:34

master's degree health systems management , and in

3:37

that program it

3:39

helped me to shape what I

3:41

was looking for . It

3:43

helped me to validate the

3:46

thoughts that I had about nursing and

3:48

healthcare . There was one

3:50

book that

3:52

made a huge

3:55

impact on the way that

3:57

I saw healthcare and the possibility

3:59

of how things can work in

4:02

healthcare , and there

4:04

are probably outside of the Bible

4:06

, there are two books that

4:08

have really had an impact or made

4:10

an impact on my thought process

4:13

and helped me to

4:15

gain more wisdom and clarity and

4:17

take action in different ways

4:19

, and so one is

4:21

the book that I'm going to discuss today , and

4:24

the second one is called Essentialism

4:26

, and I will dig into the book

4:29

Essentialism . Essentialism

4:31

helped me to deal with the overwhelm

4:34

that we deal with as nurses

4:37

in healthcare . It

4:39

gave me the permission to

4:41

understand and set boundaries

4:43

, and that's one of the areas

4:45

that I would love to cover within this podcast

4:48

of really helping us to set boundaries

4:50

, because the lack of boundaries is

4:52

what causes our

4:54

overwhelm , because we don't really know

4:56

what we can say no to . As

4:59

nurses , we've been taught like once

5:01

you get to the unit you got

5:03

patients to take care of , and

5:05

you can't say no . Like once

5:07

you receive report , that's it . And

5:10

then we carry that . We

5:12

carry that responsibility into

5:15

everything , even once we are

5:17

in , I would

5:19

say , advanced clinical work

5:21

. Like we have a master's degree , we are still

5:24

in the clinical space , but we're doing other work in the clinical work . Like we have a master's degree , we are still in the clinical space , but we're

5:26

doing other work in the clinical space

5:28

and we carry that responsibility

5:30

. Because it's our patients , we have responsibility

5:33

over them , regulatorily

5:35

, we have responsibility over them . And

5:37

so essentialism helped me

5:39

to kind of bring that back into

5:41

. What does this really mean and what is truly

5:43

essential and impactful

5:46

for my own career and

5:48

for the space that I work ? In the

5:51

book that I'm referring to today , it's

5:53

called the Florence Prescription

5:56

From Accountability

5:58

to Ownership Manifesto

6:00

for a Positive Healthcare Culture Stole for

6:02

a positive healthcare culture . Who would have thought

6:04

that that could be ? So it

6:07

can . I'm not just dreaming

6:09

of things . I

6:16

truly believe that there are some people who are working out there in

6:18

a positive healthcare culture . I will also say , coming from working

6:21

in a large system

6:23

, there are pockets of

6:25

it . It might not be everywhere , but

6:28

I've seen pockets of

6:30

a positive healthcare culture , and

6:33

so this book really

6:35

addresses the need to

6:37

re-spark the spirit and purpose

6:40

and mission of who we've

6:42

committed to be in

6:45

our professional lives as

6:47

those caring for others

6:49

. And I thought it was very fitting

6:51

as we are going

6:54

into the month of May , which

6:57

is usually a celebration of

6:59

nurses . The ANA

7:01

has stood in the previous years we

7:03

were doing a whole month of of

7:05

nurses , of nursing celebration

7:08

, and we have now pulled back

7:10

to just nurses week , back

7:12

to what we usually and had been

7:15

doing like

7:19

. This is a time of reflection

7:21

and renewing

7:24

and reviving is what it should be

7:26

, and really just

7:28

recommitting to

7:31

the work as a nurse . This

7:33

book was also a reminder that holding

7:35

people accountable for their performance and outcomes

7:38

is not enough . If

7:41

you're an ambitious nurse , that has been a frustration

7:44

of yours , because

7:46

you just want things to work well

7:48

around you so that you can do the

7:50

job that you believe you're called

7:52

to do , and then we must go

7:55

beyond mere accountability and

7:57

foster a culture of ownership

7:59

, where people hold themselves accountable

8:01

because they have personal buy inin

8:03

to the values and missions

8:05

of their hospital . It's

8:08

really about being a nurse of

8:10

like . The book is about healthcare

8:12

culture , but what

8:14

I am here to really hone in

8:16

on and talk about is nursing

8:18

culture . We are the largest

8:20

workforce probably

8:23

period point blank , but I'm just going to say in healthcare

8:25

for today , and

8:28

we make

8:30

up much of the culture

8:32

of healthcare . Regardless

8:35

of whether we want to admit it or not , take

8:37

accountability for it , we make

8:39

up that culture , and so

8:41

how do we become a nurse of excellence

8:43

and not perfection ? And

8:45

so how do we become a nurse of excellence

8:47

and not perfection ? No-transcript

8:53

. This book helps with that and it helps

8:55

you to view others

8:57

possibly a little bit differently

8:59

, because you're not taking on things personally

9:02

. So let's jump into it . So

9:04

in the book it talks about

9:07

again the re-spark of

9:09

our mission , vision and values . And

9:12

I talk about when

9:14

you're doing , when you are developing

9:16

your self-awareness to grow your career . The one

9:18

thing that you do have to really figure out

9:20

is what is my mission , what is my goal

9:22

, what is the vision and

9:25

what are my values ? This

9:28

book encourages

9:30

us to take what they call a Florence

9:32

challenge , and that

9:35

Florence challenge reminds us

9:37

that taking care of the sick should

9:39

be a mission , not just

9:41

a business , and being a nurse or

9:43

healthcare professional should

9:46

be a calling and not just a job . In

9:49

my last episode , I talked about

9:51

the importance of

9:53

being career-minded and not

9:55

just job-minded . It

9:58

impacts your culture and

10:02

you know that . You know the people

10:04

who come to your unit , who come to your area

10:06

, who are really

10:08

just there to do a job . They're

10:11

not looking to build a career , to

10:23

build a career , and so the way they act in that space is different than the way you act when you are

10:25

career-minded . And so how do we commit to

10:27

this Florence Challenge ? What does that mean

10:29

? We know what it reminds

10:31

us of , but what do we

10:34

actually need to do ? And so

10:36

the Florence Challenge talks about three things

10:38

. One , being

10:40

emotionally positive , by

10:42

turning every complaint into either

10:44

a blessing or a constructive

10:46

suggestion . That's

10:49

hard . Why is it ? Number

10:51

one ? I know it's

10:53

really hard , but we

10:55

have to begin

10:57

to shift our thought process that way , and

10:59

it doesn't happen overnight . I'm just

11:02

going to tell you this that

11:10

does not happen overnight yourself

11:13

, to understand

11:15

and to know and

11:18

to be reminded that this

11:20

, that I'm trying to stay emotionally

11:23

positive . I'm

11:25

trying to stay emotionally positive . Being

11:28

emotionally positive actually seeps out

11:30

into other areas . It

11:33

seeps out . It helps you to think about serving

11:35

more than it being about you . It's less

11:38

about your ego and it's

11:40

more about others . And I'm not saying

11:42

to lay down and be a doormat , but

11:44

it's boundaries

11:47

that allow you to

11:50

be a better nurse

11:52

, and by better nurse

11:54

I mean a nurse who is

11:56

doing things with intentionality

11:58

, a nurse who is more compassionate

12:01

, a nurse who is able to

12:03

give just a little bit more . You have a little bit

12:05

more capacity because you've exercised

12:08

boundaries in the right way , and

12:11

so that allows

12:13

you to be emotionally positive

12:15

. So how do we do that ? Here are

12:18

some quick tips on how to

12:20

be a little bit more emotionally positive

12:22

, especially when it comes to criticism

12:25

and complaints , because we

12:27

get complaints from patients , we

12:30

get complaints from our peers , we get

12:32

complaints from the people

12:34

that we report to . We get

12:36

complaints from not just not the people

12:38

that we report to , but the people that report

12:40

to . The people that report to the people . One

12:43

consider the intent

12:45

. Many times

12:48

they don't know you personally

12:50

and you don't know them personally . So

12:53

you've got to consider is the

12:55

intent of this to do the best thing

12:57

for the patient , or

13:00

is the intent to harm me or

13:03

to put me down , or

13:05

whatever the case may be ? And sometimes

13:07

that's even peer to peer , like

13:10

we get all in a ruffle

13:12

because someone has called

13:14

you out about what

13:16

you didn't do and it's like , well , what is

13:18

the intent of the call out ? Now

13:21

, sometimes the intent of the call out is selfish

13:24

on their part , but

13:27

is there really something that I could have done

13:29

that helped this situation , to

13:32

help it to not have come to

13:34

a place of they need to criticize

13:36

me , or is

13:39

it one of those things of they're

13:42

just being selfish and they want to criticize

13:45

because they're not doing their part to

13:47

exercise boundaries ? Here's

13:49

another way to be

13:51

able to be emotionally positive Process

13:55

. Is this relevant or

13:57

will it help my long-term growth ? I've

14:00

said before about

14:02

how there are things that

14:05

I have been criticized about with

14:07

my leadership , and it

14:10

wasn't a bad criticism

14:12

. It wasn't a good criticism . It was

14:14

an observation that

14:17

I could have taken on as criticism , but

14:19

I chose to look at it as that's

14:21

not a part of my long-term growth . It's not

14:23

going to impact my

14:26

review , it's just

14:28

a preference of yours . So because

14:30

it's just a preference of yours and it's not

14:32

gonna really impact my growth , career

14:36

growth , then I'm leaving it at the

14:38

door . I'm leaving it at the door

14:40

, it's just a constructive suggestion

14:43

. And third

14:45

, consider the systems

14:47

. I was talking to a nurse

14:50

one day and she was talking

14:52

about how she

14:54

works PRN . But every time she

14:56

comes in she's getting floated to

14:58

another area . She works PRN for

15:00

one area . Every time she comes in , she's getting floated

15:03

to another area . And so

15:05

she began to take that on as personal

15:07

and I said no

15:10

, that's not personal , you're just a path

15:12

of least resistance . That is the system

15:14

that we're working with . So

15:16

that person comes to you and you're

15:19

thinking why am I always the one that's getting

15:21

floated , or why am I the only one ? And it's

15:23

okay to say something to

15:25

someone , to say , hey , I'd prefer not

15:27

to be floated . That's your boundaries

15:29

, that's activating your boundaries

15:32

and saying can I please stay on

15:34

my unit ? Now you've at least put your

15:36

request out there so

15:38

that you're not playing victim . But

15:40

the other piece to it is you

15:43

are falling victim to the

15:45

circumstances that surround you and the

15:47

systems that you work within . So

15:50

we've generally got to just

15:52

fix the systems , because it's the systems

15:54

that's causing them

15:56

to come to you as the path of

15:59

least resistance . Because they need someone to float

16:01

here and float there , because you

16:03

are a PRN worker , and they will more than likely

16:05

give preference to those who are working full-time

16:08

or at least part-time . That's

16:10

just the reality of it . Full-time

16:15

or at least part-time , that's just the reality of it . Consider the systems . So that

16:18

is all under emotionally positive , one of the three things

16:20

that is a part of the Florence

16:22

challenge . The

16:24

next one is to be self-empowered

16:27

. I would also call this self-leadership

16:30

, which also includes

16:33

activating boundaries

16:35

my gosh , look at that

16:37

word . But all of these

16:39

things create a better

16:42

culture , help

16:44

you to be a better nurse . Being

16:46

self-empowered it's

16:48

taking to heart the seven promises

16:51

of the self-empowerment

16:53

pledge , which I will get into

16:55

. As I've said earlier , this is a series

16:57

, so that I'm going to get into

17:00

later , but I will tell you what

17:02

the seven promises

17:04

are in the self-empowerment

17:07

pledge responsibility

17:09

, accountability , determination

17:11

, contribution , resilience

17:13

, perspective and faith

17:16

. All things that you have

17:18

to do , not someone

17:20

else . Why is this

17:22

important ? Because as long as you take care of

17:24

you , then everything else

17:26

will fall in line

17:28

or it will help you to clearly

17:31

see is it me or is it them

17:33

, and then you can make decisions

17:36

based on that

17:38

information . So

17:40

how do you do that ? You stay

17:42

tuned to understand

17:45

what those seven principles are , but

17:47

in the meantime , self-leadership

17:49

really and self-empowerment

17:51

really is

17:54

based on you activating boundaries

17:57

and working on yourself , empowering

18:00

yourself , not waiting

18:02

on someone else to

18:04

lift you up to do Don't wait for help , help yourself

18:06

. That's really what it comes down to . For help , help yourself

18:08

, that's really what it comes down to . And

18:11

then , lastly , being fully

18:14

engaged . That is a

18:16

part of the three

18:18

elements of the Florence

18:20

Challenge . So , emotionally

18:22

positive , self-empowered

18:34

and being fully engaged , those three really help you to be a nurse of excellence

18:37

and help you to build a culture of excellence where you

18:39

work . And so being fully engaged means being

18:41

committed , engaged and passionate

18:43

in my work . So

18:46

what does it mean to really be fully engaged

18:48

? Taking initiative

18:50

and being an effective steward of

18:52

resources , fostering

18:54

a spirit of belonging and fellowship and

18:56

taking pride in your work , profession

18:59

and organization

19:01

, and yourself and

19:03

yourself . Why do we

19:05

do that Like ? Why do we need to be fully engaged

19:08

? Like ? We know ? But we understand

19:10

that that's really the only way to care and

19:13

to give your full attention to your

19:15

work . To really pull out

19:17

those pieces of joy and satisfaction

19:20

that you long for in

19:22

your work and

19:24

it's the best way to make an impact

19:26

is to be fully engaged

19:29

, even

19:31

if you've got and fully engaged means

19:33

lots of things . It doesn't

19:36

mean doing a lot . It's

19:39

more about the intentionality in

19:42

what you do every day . It

19:44

doesn't mean you need to be on three committees

19:46

and you need to be working on five projects

19:48

. What is the intention

19:50

in which you work ? Are you

19:52

taking initiative and

19:55

not just waiting on someone to do something

19:57

? When you see a piece of equipment

19:59

that's broken or something that's broken , are

20:02

you taking initiative to go ahead and just

20:04

put a sticker on there and

20:07

call the work order in and tell

20:09

the charge nurse hey , this is what's going

20:11

on . Are you taking initiative

20:13

to make

20:15

sure that you are having conversations

20:18

? Those of you who are in my

20:20

more eight to five positions

20:22

are you having those conversations

20:25

? My advanced practice nurses

20:27

are you having those advanced conversations

20:29

, those proactive conversations

20:31

, and taking initiative when you

20:33

see something's not right with a particular

20:35

nurse or they need education on a piece

20:38

? Are you taking initiative

20:40

to be able to have those

20:42

frank conversations , not

20:44

of constructive criticism , but

20:46

more so understanding

20:48

, asking questions and then educating

20:51

. I don't have time for that , okay . Well

20:53

then you could continue to perpetuate

20:55

your circumstance , but yet

20:58

you'll go and talk to the nurse manager about it

21:00

, when you could have just handled it . So

21:02

it's all of those things . So

21:05

how do we do that ? We

21:08

focus on being clear about

21:11

and acting upon your personal

21:13

values in the

21:15

way you should do

21:17

at work . So , however

21:19

you are doing that personally

21:23

, do it also

21:25

professionally . So

21:28

, to recap , we

21:30

are taking on the Florence Challenge , and

21:33

we are doing that by being

21:35

emotionally positive , we

21:38

are being becoming self-empowered and

21:41

we are being fully engaged . Why does that matter

21:43

? Because you want to be a nurse of excellence

21:45

, you want to make an impact , you want

21:47

to grow in your career , and it starts with you

21:49

, because you are the only one that

21:51

you can really control , like everything else

21:53

you can't control . So it helps

21:56

to just kind of say , okay , what can I do

21:58

? What do I have control over

22:00

? And then you go from there

22:02

, and so there are three

22:04

other elements . So that's a part of the Florence

22:06

Challenge , but then there are three elements that flow

22:08

from that Ownership

22:11

, empowerment , engagement and

22:13

culture . And so in

22:15

the next three episodes I'm

22:17

going to focus on those elements

22:19

separately . What does ownership look

22:22

like , what does empowerment

22:24

and engagement look like ? And what does

22:26

culture look

22:28

like and how

22:30

can you be the culture that

22:33

you want ? How can you be the culture that you

22:35

want in where you work

22:37

currently and where you're

22:39

going ? Because you can't

22:41

take that attitude and

22:43

the lacklusterness where

22:46

you are and where you're going , you

22:49

are the culture . Where

22:56

you're going , you are the culture . I hope you enjoyed this

22:59

and I look forward to talking to you about this a little bit more . See

23:01

ya ,