Therapy Thursdays

It's easy to be negative, especially when under great pressure.  It's even easier to feel alone when you're struggling, and to see asking for help as a weakness.  But my time as a student, and infact more so my time as a newly qualified nurse, has showed me you’re only as strong as the team around you.  

And a great team is full of people who lead in a range of different areas – those who innovate; those who organise and co-ordinate work efforts; those who encourage trust and co-operation; those who litigate; those who act and both inspire and engage others, and those who support, develop and empower people. 

All the research into leadership tells us great patient care comes when nurses feel encouraged and supported by their leaders, and in turn where the work climate is positive and supportive , and where people are given opportunities to participate in decision making, they report higher levels of organisational belonging and job performance increases as a result.

In studies where all nurses are encouraged to be involved in quality improvement -higher levels of empowerment and performance shine through again.  Put simply – where all members of a team are supported and have a voice – they feel involved , and have the emotional capacity to care for others.

Personally, perhaps controversially, I think the capacity to lead is inside everyone, it only shows in different ways.  The temptation at times like these, when everybody in every role within healthcare is stretched and pushed to their limits, is to look for some inspirational celebrity or historical figure, someone who's achieved greatness despite incredible hardships and measure yourself up against them.

To be inspirational means to make you feel full of hope or encouraged.  And these people are all around us.  It could be your favourite author who uses words like a paintbrush, painting emotions and feelings so real you can reach out and touch them and feel strengthened by their proximity.  Or it could be a friend, who's going through the most awful time, struggling with the worst kinds of crippling anxiety and consuming depression, but still manages to get up every day and just carry on. It could be a lecturer who invokes such inspiration its hard not to be swept along and strive to be as passionate, empathetic and hardworking. And it can be your work colleagues who cheer you up, cheer you on and keep each other going.

In a culture where we’ve grown to measure success by status, perhaps we should instead measure success by innovation, and the effects of such on other people.  By innovation, I’m not exclusively talking about those bringing about huge changes, but also those whose actions and ideas inspire actions in other people.  The carer who sits with a patient with dementia who is unable to communicate their wishes in the way they used to, and is afraid – and develops a way to ease this confusion during their shift.  The lecturer who changes and develops modules to suit the learning and perhaps family needs of their students.  The practitioner who helps develop new guidelines and courses to enhance future patient safety.  Work mates who take that 20 seconds to ask “Are you ok? How’s your day going? Let me know if you need anything”

These are all, surely, equally both successful and fundamental to any great team, and furthermore, surely all equal leaders?

Being kind, mindful of the stresses other people may be going through, being respectful and compassionate.  They are none of these passive states.  They each require action, and equally as important – reflection.  Measuring the success of an individual not merely by results, but the growth and development of the actions which preceded it. The end result may be fabulous, but I’m a great believer in celebrating the whole team behind it.  Instead of searching for the negative, which sadly our media seems so intent on -  acknowledge and celebrate all the positives and draw from them. Shout from the rooftops about them. Where negative experiences happen, share them openly and frankly, reflect on them and then keep on moving forwards. 

Don’t Just be a nurse, don’t just be a leader -  be a cheerleader.  Tell the world about all the incredible people who make up your team, who make your day easier.  Tell the world and celebrate the best kind of team - nurses, doctors, midwives, healthcare support workers, porters, domestics, ward clerks and everyone else who, however bleak the outlook, always pull together to look after others.