Effective Teamwork Strategies with Action Planning

The first step in creating personal goals is to establish an individual action plan or development plan. Start with a goal description or a statement of what you want to be able to accomplish in the future or do differently as a result of development. To set your personal or development goal, reflect upon what you have learned and consider feedback about your strengths and areas for improvement.

Once the goal or statement is developed, determine the activities or steps that will help assist in reaching the goal. It is important that your goal statement is “SMART”—that is, it is specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely.  

Specific: The purpose of your statement is to be specific about the future state that you want to achieve. Consider answering one or more of the following questions: who, what, when, where, and why.

Measurable: It is also important to clearly define what success looks like to you, including specific accomplishments with measurable outcomes.

Actionable: Identify key actions or steps to be taken that will contribute to the achievement of the goal.

Realistic: This pertains to you having the capacity and capability to accomplish the goal, even if you are not fully competent in that area yet. Also, your goal is realistic if it is feasible one step at a time. Depending on your action or development plan, you may have additional resources or key stakeholders to assist you in taking action on your plan. A mentor or clinical contact can also be a valuable resource to connect you to different areas of needed practice or education depending on your developmental needs.

Timely: Finally, you want to identify some type of tangible target date, such as a date or year.

Individual Development Planning

The (Not So) Great Escape: Why New Nurses Are Leaving the Profession  

For many, nursing is a calling in which college graduates earn the title of a registered nurse to serve and care for people of all ages and health conditions. The question is: why are many nurses leaving the profession within two years of employment? Nurses leaving the profession within the first five years of their career is a significant symptom of the larger challenges in nursing. With alarming rates of up to 33% of new nurses leaving the workforce within the first two years, the (not so) great escape must be addressed overall by the profession (Flinkman et. al., 2013).

Nursing burnout is a widespread event characterized by a reduction in energy through emotional exhaustion, lack of motivation, and feelings of frustration and may lead to reductions in work efficiency (Flinkman et. al., 2013).

Confounding variables that may have an impact on burnout include culture, emotional strain, environment, and work-related injuries. Nursing burnout is a widespread event characterized by a reduction in energy through emotional exhaustion, lack of motivation, and feelings of frustration, and may lead to reductions in work efficiency (Flinkman et. al., 2013).

Self-care is not a foreign concept to nurses as it aligns with common concepts used in practice such as self-management, self-monitoring, and self-efficacy. According to the World Health Organization (2021), self-care is defined as what people do for themselves to establish and maintain health and to prevent and deal with illness. Self-care is a skill that nurses should possess and is described as a set of practices and activities nurses should engage in regularly to help decrease stress levels and help nurses live longer, healthier lives (WHO, 2022).

Healthcare professionals need to engage in self-care because as the old adage says, “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” By taking care of yourself, you will be more effective when providing care to the patient and coaching caregivers. Self-care is often neglected because the nursing career can be exhausting (nurses give so much of their physical and emotional being to patients and families). Nurses are notorious for neglecting their self-care needs. According to a cross-sectional study conducted by Sanzone et al. (2020), poor self-care negatively affects quality of care and patient safety. It can lead to unwanted, unhealthy lifestyles (e.g., weight gain, poor nutrition, inadequate rest) and may impact patient outcomes such as higher patient falls, medication errors, and lower quality-of-care scores (Vogus et.al., 2020). Furthermore, stress contributes to chronic disease and potentially other health issues impacting the person professionally and personally, sometimes leading to leaving the nursing profession altogether. Practicing self-care strategies may be a meaningful way to support health and impact patient safety (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017).

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs includes the theoretical basis and conceptual underpinnings that humans have a series of needs, some of which are rudimentary and must be met before a person can turn their attention toward other needs. Meeting one’s basic needs has a significant place in providing a foundation for people to be able to have the desire and motivation to fulfill their higher needs and provide safe care. Concerns over safety and physiological needs are contributing factors to disorders such as anxiety, phobia, depression, and post-traumatic stress syndrome (Esposito, 2021).

Self-care strategies are vital, now more than ever. The stressors related to the healthcare profession have been described as the harmful physical and emotional responses that may occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the healthcare worker. The COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020 presented healthcare workers throughout the United States with the experience of extreme stress due to the sheer volume of hospitalized patients, shortages in resources, and uncertain clinical protocols in treating the virus. Furthermore, job-related stress is commonly associated with gaps in competency related to limited knowledge, emergent cross-training to areas outside of nurses’ clinical ability, increased nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, and strained hospital abilities. All of these factors increase stress, burnout, and depression levels compared with previously reported levels in the literature.

Without adequately tending to one’s own needs, nurses may face compassion fatigue, which is a relevant risk for many healthcare professionals across the continuum of care. Practicing effective self-care strategies such as mindfulness, seeking out mentors, and reflective practices may foster increased resilience among healthcare professionals.

There are many tactics nurses can use to ensure they are safe and ready to provide safe clinical care during a nursing shift. The IMSAFE checklist is a personal health assessment used to ensure a team member is prepared both mentally and physically for their next shift.

This checklist was originally designed for pilots to self-reflect on their well-being prior to a flight. The acronym IMSAFE stands for “illness, medication, stress, alcohol, fatigue, emotions.” By reviewing these elements of the checklist, the individual can conclude whether they are personally fit to fly in the case of piloting, or in the case of nursing, fit for their shift/job as a nurse. The following video provided by Healthcare Excellence Canada discusses the IMSAFE checklist and illustrates its importance in more detail. It allows nurses to do a pulse check on how they are doing and whether they need to take some time to tend to their own needs. It is also a good tool that you can promote with your team and patients who may be experiencing high levels of stress at their workplace. IM SAFE Video 

After self-assessing through the IMSAFE checklist, one can evaluate and examine all areas needing some additional self-care attention and what strategies can help. A tool that may be beneficial to explore is the Emergency Self-Care Worksheet prepared by the University of Buffalo School of Social Work (n.d.). This worksheet helps you determine what activities work best as self-care strategies and creates an outlined care plan to address your needs. It is ideal to complete this tool prior to facing challenges with stress and well-being. Emergency Self Care Worksheet

Mental 

Mental self-care helps nurses intellectually. Taking time to expand or gain knowledge helps the nurse gain insight into things outside of bedside care and can strengthen confidence.

• Headspace - helps anyone start meditating
• Talkspace - schedule sessions with an online therapist
• Shine – helps keep you motivated with positive words
• Pacifica – track your mood, meditate, and practice cognitive-behavioral therapy
• ClassPass Go - offers ready-to-play workouts that vary in length and difficulty
• Managing Stress