Adopt a Floor

astanowski — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:28:12 +0000

The need for support staff to have a strong working relationship with nursing staff is well documented. The outcomes that are fostered when these relationships are strong include, increased nurse satisfaction and ultimately patient satisfaction. How do support service staff begin to make themselves known to nurse managers? How do they create an environment that fosters good relationships?

Well, the response to these questions can have many different answers. Once example jumped out recently when I walked into the food manager’s office at Lankenau Hospital (Wynnewood, PA). I saw gift baskets. Not just a couple of baskets, but dozens. When I inquired about them, the food service manager said that it was part of the “adopt-a-floor” program at Lankenau and the baskets were to recognize the efforts of nurses.

The way it worked was that assigned members of the food service management team would deliver baskets to the nurse managers to share on the floor with the staff nurses.

It’s just a little thing. But relationships are built on little things that form a basis for bigger things.

Observations on Operations » nurses

Adopt a Floor