Nurses – be kinder to each other and patients will benefit, says NHS trust
New project urges staff to appreciate colleagues and check on their welfare
Nurses are being encouraged to be kinder and appreciate each other to improve patient safety.
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) has launched a ‘Reminder to be kinder’ project designed to recognise the ‘role of civility on patient safety’.
The initiative, launched to coincide with World Patient Safety Day, includes a range of action cards for staff, which remind them to celebrate colleagues’ achievements, thank someone for their work, and do something to make life easier for a colleague.
UHS deputy director of nursing Juliet Pearce said the trust had reviewed studies about the impact of rudeness on staff performance, which had informed the project’s development.
‘In one study, teams working on a simulated emergency scenario were exposed to either rude comments or neutral comments during the scenario,’ she said.
‘The team that faced rudeness saw a 12% drop in diagnostic and procedural performance.’
Checklist will help to ease pressure on staff
Ms Pearce added: 'While teams may at times work under pressure, rudeness or incivility actually makes us less effective at coping with that pressure.’
She said a ‘going home checklist’, which prompts staff to consider three things that went well during their shift and to check on colleagues, will be displayed in communal staff areas.
World Patient Safety Day also saw nurses in England take their fight for safe staffing legislation to the public in the RCN’s The People’s People campaign.
Studies that influenced the trust’s ‘Reminder to be kinder’ project
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