Is your recognition actually meaningful?

Nurses Week in many organizations brings celebrations, marketing campaigns, free lunch, and sometimes even after-hours celebratory events.

Organizations that do this right make a big deal about it. They involve the entire senior leadership team and other disciplines like medicine in the process.

While nurses appreciate the fanfare and gratitude expressed during Nurse’s week. The grueling work continues year-round.

What happens on a random Tuesday in September? How do your nurses feel then?

Unfortunately, broad, organization-wide recognition efforts have natural limits. So, it’s incumbent upon frontline leaders to ensure that recognition is not just an annual event but a culture that is felt day-to-day.

How can you communicate gratitude and appreciation to your team in a meaningful way?

While fanfare and celebration are nice, I’ve found that most nurses are not looking for more of that. What tends to be more meaningful are the simpler, day-to-day expressions of acknowledgment and appreciation.

Frequently, nurses feel like they work very hard but are 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 both to their boss and the organization at large.

It takes intentional effort to make sure people know that their work is 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻, 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱, and 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱.

Here’s a few strategies that I’ve used with some success:

Say “thank you”

This might sound obvious, but it’s easy to forget on a day-to-day basis. Whenever you have the opportunity, thank people for the work they are doing. Even the routine, mundane stuff that is “just part of their job description.”

Giving genuine commendation lives in this same category. Don’t wait for performance reviews to tell people what they are doing well. Phrase it in the first person: “I appreciate that you…” hits differently than: “you’re very good at…”

For instance, I pointed out to one of our nurses this week that I appreciated her level of hustle. I shared that I noticed that she doesn’t waste time when new patient calls arrive and jumps on them right away. She lit up and explained how her critical care background her conditioned her to address things as soon as possible, because you never know what will change. I shared that I agreed with her and repeated how much I appreciated the approach.

It is those small moments that make people feel seen and appreciated, not a pizza party. Admittedly though. I had noticed this a few weeks ago. One of my goals is to reduce the time gap between when I notice such positives and when I express them.

Even just saying something like “good work today” can go a long way toward making sure people feel noticed.

Acknowledge difficulties

It’s important to acknowledge difficulties, even (especially) those that can’t be solved. The work that nurses do is difficult no matter the setting. There are also a lot of challenges and barriers that have no clear solution in sight.

As leaders, we are problem solvers, so we can struggle with how to respond when staff share these difficulties with us.

Sometimes the best response is simply to acknowledge how hard it is.

While it can sometimes feel uninspiring when. We can’t offer a solution. Remember that. your nurses are intelligent, educated professionals, and often they already know the constraints we face.

Even if they don’t. Your acknowledgment of the difficulty they are facing and explaining the constraints can at least communicate understanding of their perspective.

In these situations, it can be helpful to collaborate with them to identify the options that are available. Other times, all they need is a listening ear and empathy. The reassurance that you understand how challenging the work is can be more valuable than solving the problem.

Check in with individuals and the team

Make a habit of asking people how they’re doing. This is helpful with individuals during a shift and also with the team during huddles and meetings.

If you’re aware of circumstances effecting individuals, be especially intentional about this. For instance, if you know someone is struggling with an illness/chronic health issue or grieving a loss, it can be totally appropriate to ask, “how are you feeling today?” and follow up with “what can I do to make today go smoothly?” The point is not to fix it, but to communicate that you notice and care.

It’s very easy as a leader to get focused on issues, goals and objectives, and whatever the latest initiative is. When meetings, huddles, and team communication become all about what’s wrong or needs improvement or the next big project, staff can start to feel invisible.

Don’t let that happen. Make a point to ask people how things are going on a regular basis. It need not be in every meeting and huddle but work it in periodically. Keep the questions open ended. Some favorites of mine include:

• How do we feel about today (or this week)?
• What’s going well right now?
• What can I do to best support the team right now?

Reflect on your own habits

Reflection is an important part of developing as a leader. Some aspects of this may come naturally. And others you may need to be more intentional. About. Because. They are less. Attuned to your personality. Nurses Week provides an annual reminder to reflect specifically on our recognition habits.

Overall, the most meaningful recognition that we can give as leaders is noticing people, commending their efforts, and expressing gratitude.

Let’s channel the energy from Nurses Week to reflect on how well we’re all doing in this area.