The nursing trade is a tough line of work that requires equal parts of knowledge, understanding, and patience. While nurses perform their tasks with joy, sometimes they can weigh down on their mental and physical wellbeing and reduce the quality of their job. When morale is low, even the most routine of tasks can seem like an uphill battle. These conditions also seem to be affected by staff turnover and patient acuity.

In this sense, it’s necessary for nurse administrators and other individuals in positions of leadership to devise strategies and activities to keep morale high at all times, especially for when the staff is feeling down.

In this article, we will go over a few activities, tips, and tricks that you, as a nurse, can propose in the workplace in hopes of keeping morale high and the moods positive.

The Golden Urinals

If actors can receive an award for their accomplishment on the big screen, then nurses should also be rewarded for their tireless efforts. Haven’t you heard that urinals or bedpans can make an excellent gift? Well, you can easily turn these into packages that can be filled with sweets, flowers, candy, and other goodies to reward a nurse for a particularly tough day. Feel free ask the staff if someone is in dire need of a pick-me-up, and prepare one of these awesome gift packs to that hard-working nurse!

Appoint a “Morale Nurse”

Keeping track of the individual needs of each nurse is a challenge in itself. This task becomes more difficult as the number of nurses in a unit increases, and even larger in hospitals or health centers. A good method for keeping the morale of your staff in check is to assign one of your nurses to “morale duty,” which revolves around regularly checking on the staff to see how they’re holding up, especially in the most hectic days. These morale officers also ask about each nurse’s difficulties in the job and hold quarterly one-on-one conversations with each nurse to create a secure, private channel so that they can voice their opinions and notify the supervisor about any issues.

All of these measures paint a picture about the current state of morale in the workplace, which could also justify the turnover and vacancy rates, as well as the number of staff complaints.

According to Relias Media, the responsibilities of a morale officer should include, but are not limited to the following:

• Making rounds throughout the shift, at least twice a week
• Supporting upcoming activities in staff meetings
• Planning activities, like the Christmas party, National Nursing Week, and other team building activities
• Attending nurse meetings, representing the staff’s concerns and complaints
• Observing nursing staff’s schedule
• Acknowledging special events, like births, marriages, and retirements

Hold a Surprise Lunch or Coffee Break

What better way to win someone over than through their stomach? This statement applies to everything, from romance and employment opportunities, to lightening the mood in the workplace. Everyone loves a nice meal, especially if it’s free! An excellent way to raise morale in the workplace is by having an impromptu dinner or coffee break sponsored by the management. Even a little thing like having someone make a coffee run at the local Starbucks can work wonders for a tired nurse. Above all, it can help the employees feel appreciated and let them know that their efforts don’t go unnoticed.

Give Flexible Scheduling

One of the most critical aspects of the job for nurses is the possibility of working flexible schedules. A good charge nurse will invest a significant portion of their time at consulting the specific needs of each nurse and create work schedules based on those needs. This task includes noting the individual cases where some nurses might need some hours off, as well as the nurses that are willing to take up those hours.

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

It’s true that nursing is a thankless profession. Most nurses perform their tasks out of personal commitment to the trade and their ideals, rather than for the credit and recognition. This public recognition of efforts is an excellent way to boost nurse morale, even when it’s just a handwritten note. It’ll give that nurse a much-needed motivation boost. To this end, try keeping some premade cards in the workplace, so that both nurses and patients can write their wishes and hand it to those important colleagues or caregivers in their lives.