Roger Payne

Today's Nurses: Making a Difference ... Every Day

"The doctors do what they do and then walk away. Then it's the nurse who supports the patient and the family, day after day," said Richard Olivier, the extremely grateful father of Christopher, a young man who by all accounts shouldn't be here today.

Mr. Olivier has nothing but high praise for the care his 19-year old son received after arriving at Rhode Island Hospital last November in critical condition. Christopher's car swerved on black ice that night and hit a tree, putting him into a coma for two and a half months. In addition, he suffered an aortic injury, bruised lungs and multiple fractures. During that time, he had a number of surgeries and two instances in which his heart stopped beating.

"Throughout the ordeal, the nurses never candy-coated anything," explained Mr. Olivier. "They were caring, supportive and optimistic, but always honest." Mr. Olivier recalled the time a nurse reported to him and his wife, Barbara, "Your son's dying, and we don't know why." Scary news, certainly, but the nurse's frankness gave the Oliviers the opportunity to hope for the best and prepare for the worse.

Thankfully, Christopher pulled through, and according to Mr. Olivier, it was the nurses "who kept him alive." He and his family are grateful that the care and support his family received came from a staff of nurses who remain totally committed to their profession - women and men who cope with long hours, increased patient load, and high stress.

Aside from the outstanding care his son received, what meant the most to Mr. Olivier was the many nurses who made it their business to get his son back on the road to recovery.

Mariann Rachko, RN, was one of the nurses on the unit that cared for Christopher. She was herself involved in a car accident at the age of 16 that resulted in temporary paralysis and several years in braces. She knew first hand the pain her young patient was experiencing, as well as the strain, anxiety and fear that his family was feeling.

"These types of accidents put a huge stress on the families," says Ms. Rachko. "Of course we were lucky that Christopher was so young and in such good physical condition. That helped him tremendously with his recovery." But it was his "two, very devoted parents," explained Ms. Rachko, that really helped.

Mr. Olivier would argue, I suspect, that his family's influence on his son's recovery was small when compared to the nursing team's expert and tireless dedication to Christopher

The American Nurses Association has chosen the tag line, "Nurses: Making a Difference Every Day," to mark this year's celebration of National Nurses Week (beginning May 6 and ending appropriately on the birthday of Florence Nightingale, May 12). Sounds as if Mr. Olivier might have been in charge of selecting the tag line.

All of this, however, leads me to the serious problem of nurses leaving the profession and what healthcare executives can do, if anything to stop the bleeding.

Here are the trends: Enrollment in nursing schools is down, the average age of an RN has increased to 46.8 years and more nurses are needed as our population ages. It's no surprise that "insufficient staffing is raising the stress levels of nurses, impacting job satisfaction, and driving many nurses to leave the profession," according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Our industry has established a number of initiatives to address our nursing shortage, including development of public-private partnerships, improving working environments, increasing training initiatives and designing more flexible roles for senior nurses. Implementing any of these at your organization is a start in the right direction, but may take some time.

In the interim, I suggest you take the opportunity of National Nurses Week to institute a program whereby you recognize your institution's nurses each and every month. Go all out during the month of May to say thank-you, and continue to do so throughout the year. Here are a few ideas:

• Have a Nurse of the Month award; recognize the winner with a photograph, plaque and small prize, such as a gift certificate for dinner.
• Establish a scholarship at a local nursing school and have your nurses connect with the students and deliver the annual donation on behalf of your hospital.
• Let your nurses know they are valued by asking them what changes would increase their satisfaction at work. If you have it in your power to make their jobs a bit easier, then by all means, do so.

The Olivier family is extremely lucky. Not only did they have a son who was physically able to pull through a tremendously challenging ordeal, but they had the good fortune to have their son cared for by a group of nurses who remain happy in their chosen profession, making a difference, every day.

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