Gratitude is the Attitude

Project Topic:

Increasing Meaningful Recognition

Hospital, City and State:

Nemours Children’s Health, Wilmington, Delaware

Unit:

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

CSI Participants:

• Devin Angiulo, MSN, RNC-NIC
• Cat Lawless, BSN, RNC-NIC
• Jenna Matteo, BSN, RN
• Lauren Miller, BSN, RNC-NIC

Project Goals/Objectives:

1. Improve participation in meaningful recognition in the NICU between associates
2. Educate staff on the benefits of meaningful recognition
3. Increase the use of electronic recognition programs 75% and provide alternative measures of meaningful recognition
4. Create a culture of gratitude in the unit
5. Increase the Healthy Work Environment Assessment Tool (HWEAT) meaningful recognition score average to 4.5
6. Decrease turnover rate 2%

Project Outcomes:

1. Improved participation and education of meaningful recognition through our HWEAT Survey result data
2. Doubled use of the electronic recognition program
3. Created a culture of gratitude in the unit
4. Increased HWEAT meaningful recognition score average to 4.13 from 3.95
5. Decreased turnover rate 2%
6. Increased associate competency with Nemours applications
7. Increased awareness of interdisciplinary recognition
8. These outcomes resulted in a positive estimated annual fiscal impact of $149,333

Project Overview:

Through our analysis of our HWEAT survey results, the CSI team noticed a significant deficit in meaningful recognition. Our first step was to identify what meaningful recognition meant to NICU staff to understand our area of deficit and evaluate current literature. Meaningful recognition decreases burnout and increases compassion (Kelly & Lefton, 2017). This element plays a key role in job satisfaction, and our staff defined meaningful recognition as personal appreciation in many forms in our initial survey. Different forms of recognition mentioned by staff, utilized in this project, include our organization’s electronic recognition program “Kudos,” verbal recognition, hand-written notes, a highlight in the weekly update, Daisy nominations, and yearly evaluations. Our project was entitled “Gratitude is the Attitude,” aptly named to highlight our team’s definition of meaningful recognition. Research shows that practicing gratitude can enhance mental wellness (Bohlmeijer et al., 2020).

The project kickoff included a cart with snacks, stickers, opportunities to thank an associate through handwritten notes, and an educational handout discussing the project goals and the importance of gratitude. A bulletin board highlighting staff accomplishments was displayed outside of the break room. Project champions were identified as nurses who would promote the project to our staff and assist with the education of staff. Our team created “Gratitude Rounds,” where each team member at midpoint would check in with each staff member to see if they had given or received any recognition in the last six months and what form of meaningful recognition they had received. Eighty-eight88% of staff reported receiving meaningful recognition, and 87% reported giving meaningful recognition to their colleagues. Our team extended gratitude rounds to families to inquire if they would like to highlight their appreciation for a staff member caring for their child. Of the families surveyed, 92% expressed gratitude for a staff member to be highlighted.

The CSI team redosed the project in September with a bracelet-making activity, and in October, we held a pumpkin painting event. During these offerings, we educated staff about our project while giving them an activity to decompress during the workday.

Nearing the end of our project, we initiated “Kudos Challenges.” These challenges encouraged staff to utilize our electronic recognition program with daily prompts. We enticed staff to use the app with a raffle, entering any nurse who utilized the program that month into the drawing each month. Finally, we concluded this project by repeating our initial survey to evaluate our interventions.