Improving Teamwork and Resiliency of Burn Center Nurses Through a Standardized Staff Development Program.
For many acute care nursing units, such as the Burn Progressive Care Unit (BPCU) at the U.S. Army Burn center, staff stress and burnout is always a concern for leaders. Job stress not only contributes to nursing turnover, but can have a negative impact on patient care. The purpose of this project was to develop a training platform for nursing staff education and teambuilding with the intent of improving nurse satisfaction, increasing resiliency, building unit cohesion, enhancing morale, and increasing staff awareness of unit performance. All nursing staff were given an 8-hour training day, half of which was focused on education and the other half on teambuilding and resiliency. At the end of the staff development day (SDD), participants were encouraged to complete an evaluation; all activities were scored on a 10-point scale, with 10 representing the most informative. In total, 46 of 48 staff (96%) participated in the first two SDDs. During the first iteration (Spring 2015), participants scored all activities very high, with a total average score of 9.15 ± 0.26 (n = 246). In the Fall of 2015, the SDD program was again rated well, with an average score of 9.36 ± 0.13 (n = 276). The SDD program has been successful in supporting teamwork and resiliency among BPCU staff. Staff feedback supported success in meeting the objectives of building unit cohesion and increasing satisfaction and morale.
From the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Mollie F
MF
Christiansen
Andrew
A
Wallace
John M
JM
Newton
Nicole
N
Caldwell
Elizabeth A
EA
Mann-Salinas
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002053:Burn Units; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000517:prevention & control; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D010563:Personnel Turnover; D013192:Staff Development