Promoting Work Engagement: One Medical Center’s Journey

Abstract

The ability to effectively engage employees is now recognized as an important business differentiator. 1 Bersin J It's time to rethink the employee engagement issue. http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2014/04/10/its-time-to-rethink-the-employee-engagement-issue/Date: April 10, 2014 Google Scholar In health care, it has been shown to impact quality of care, patient satisfaction, and safety. 2 Laschinger H Wilk P Cho J Greco P Empowerment, engagement, and perceived effectiveness in nursing work environments: does experience matter?. J Nurs Manag. 2009; 17: 636-646 Crossref PubMed Scopus (108) Google Scholar , 3 Bacon C Mark B Organizational effects on patient satisfaction in hospital medical-surgical units. J Nurs Adm. 2009; 39: 220-227 Crossref PubMed Scopus (58) Google Scholar , 4 Gobenbach V Drenkard K The outcomes of magnet environments and nursing staff engagement: a case study. Nurs Clin N Am. 2011; 46: 89-105 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (15) Google Scholar , 5 Bogaert PV van Heusden D Timmermans O Frank E Nurse work engagement impacts job outcome and nurse-assessed quality of care: model testing with nurse practice environment and nurse work characteristics as predictors. Front Psychol. 2014; 5: 1261-1271 PubMed Google Scholar Yet, employee engagement and loyalty can be challenging in our current turbulent health care environment when the focus for most organizations has been on reducing costs, improving quality, and implementing innovative change. Recent nationwide research conducted by the Advisory Board Company indicates that only 32.8% of registered nurses (RNs) are engaged in their work, and 7.4% are actively disengaged. 6 Virkstis N The national prescription for nurse engagement: best practices for enfranchising frontline staff in organizational transformation. April 10, 2014. Advisory Board Company website. http://www.advisory.com/research/nursing-executive-center/studies/2014/national-prescription-for-nurse-engagement Google Scholar Statistically, professional nurses have lower work engagement and higher disengagement rates than other frontline staff in health care agencies. This is troubling because nurses contribute substantially to the patient care experience and are also crucial in efforts to transform health care. The 2010 Institute of Medicine Report on The Future of Nursing recommended that nurses should be prepared to lead change to address the gaps in health. 7 Institute of Medicine The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. National Academies Press, Washington DC2010 Google Scholar This will not happen if nurses are disengaged in their jobs. The ability to effectively engage employees is now recognized as an important business differentiator. 1 Bersin J It's time to rethink the employee engagement issue. http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2014/04/10/its-time-to-rethink-the-employee-engagement-issue/Date: April 10, 2014 Google Scholar In health care, it has been shown to impact quality of care, patient satisfaction, and safety. 2 Laschinger H Wilk P Cho J Greco P Empowerment, engagement, and perceived effectiveness in nursing work environments: does experience matter?. J Nurs Manag. 2009; 17: 636-646 Crossref PubMed Scopus (108) Google Scholar , 3 Bacon C Mark B Organizational effects on patient satisfaction in hospital medical-surgical units. J Nurs Adm. 2009; 39: 220-227 Crossref PubMed Scopus (58) Google Scholar , 4 Gobenbach V Drenkard K The outcomes of magnet environments and nursing staff engagement: a case study. Nurs Clin N Am. 2011; 46: 89-105 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (15) Google Scholar , 5 Bogaert PV van Heusden D Timmermans O Frank E Nurse work engagement impacts job outcome and nurse-assessed quality of care: model testing with nurse practice environment and nurse work characteristics as predictors. Front Psychol. 2014; 5: 1261-1271 PubMed Google Scholar Yet, employee engagement and loyalty can be challenging in our current turbulent health care environment when the focus for most organizations has been on reducing costs, improving quality, and implementing innovative change. Recent nationwide research conducted by the Advisory Board Company indicates that only 32.8% of registered nurses (RNs) are engaged in their work, and 7.4% are actively disengaged. 6 Virkstis N The national prescription for nurse engagement: best practices for enfranchising frontline staff in organizational transformation. April 10, 2014. Advisory Board Company website. http://www.advisory.com/research/nursing-executive-center/studies/2014/national-prescription-for-nurse-engagement Google Scholar Statistically, professional nurses have lower work engagement and higher disengagement rates than other frontline staff in health care agencies. This is troubling because nurses contribute substantially to the patient care experience and are also crucial in efforts to transform health care. The 2010 Institute of Medicine Report on The Future of Nursing recommended that nurses should be prepared to lead change to address the gaps in health. 7 Institute of Medicine The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. National Academies Press, Washington DC2010 Google Scholar This will not happen if nurses are disengaged in their jobs.