The Standard Leadership Calendar -- A Successful Strategy to Build a Healthy and Safe Work Environment

Purpose:
This session details the concept of a ‘standard leadership calendar' (SLC) and successful implementation within an academic, community Magnet™ hospital. The SLC is intended to dedicate time for unit nurse managers to complete daily patient and staff rounds to address service and quality indicators.

Significance:
A study within the organization found staff needed ‘time, trust and teamwork' to be ‘at their best.' To achieve these, staff believe they need to be: present, positive, engaged, and accountable. The SLC incorporates and addresses all these elements to foster a healthy and safe work environment.

Strategy and Implementation:
All unit managers block 8-11 am Monday–Friday to complete patient and staff rounds. The time is respected as a ‘meeting-free zone.' Patients are asked standard questions based on prioritized service and quality issues, eg. Do you know what interventions are in place to keep you safe? Staff rounds are not the ‘hummingbird,' variety, but are formal and require manager and staff to sit in a quiet place. Standard questions relate to those asked in the biannual employee satisfaction survey, eg. What is working well? Do you have the tools and resources to do your job? Also, staff are asked if they wish to recognize a colleague and if so, the manager assures this. A survey tool on an electronic tablet is used by the manager to assure question standardization and recording of answers for data collection and follow-up purposes. It is important for managers to not just listen, but be accountable to close the loop on identified issues, often engaging staff in identifying and crafting solutions.

Evaluation:
The SLC has been in place for 6 months on 7 inpatient and 3 emergency units. Overall patient satisfaction scores have reached annual target goals. The NDNQI nurse sensitive indicators have been positively impacted. Qualitatively, staff know they will interact with their manager every day.

Implications for Practice:
A SLC can be implemented within any health care setting. The SLC has fostered managers to be proactive with issues and make patients and staff their priority. It is a successful strategy to improve the work environment and manager work life satisfaction through time, trust and teamwork.