By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC
In 2005, when the NBA was considering a rule change that required players to be at least 19 before entering the draft, Coach Mike Krzyzewski was asked about the implications for Duke. In his mind, there were none. “I would never recruit a kid who said, ‘I’m just coming for a year.’ I never have,” he told reporters then. “. . . For our school, we can’t do that. A kid says, ‘I’m going to come and use you for a year’ — that’s not what we should do.” And then the NBA implemented the policy change – Coach K did not change his philosophy immediately, and Duke started to lose games and the best recruits. One day in 2008, not long after West Virginia upset Duke in the NCAA tournament’s second round, Krzyzewski walked into a coaching staff meeting. The Blue Devils, as he saw it, had two choices: They could either recruit the nation’s best players or accept that Duke would be playing against them. As hard as it was to change his philosophy, Coach K did it and changed his whole approach to coaching.
Nurse leaders across the United States now find themselves in the same position as Coach K. Gone are the days when you interview a nurse for a position on your unit and have a reasonable expectation that the nurse might still be with you five years later. When I talked about this change in a recent webinar, here is what a leader told me:
I was one of those big believers that a nurse should spend two years on a unit before they were allowed to transfer. For many years, I was able to enforce this expectation but not today. I distinctly remember the first interview just before COVID with a new grad where I talked about this, and he said – you are kidding. Fast forward to where I am today. I would be happy to get nurses to stay a year – this is now my goal. I have embraced the one-and-done philosophy but differently. I currently make the case in every interview for waiting a year, and then you can be one and done. From there, I will do everything in my power to help you to achieve your next goal. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it does not. I have had to change my leadership and think about – what can we do for a year together – how can you best contribute to the unit?
Embracing a one-and-done philosophy accepts that young nurses today want to advance in their careers. As a nurse leader, you have two choices – accept this change in the workforce or dig your heels in and try to enforce a policy that will result in nurses leaving you and your organization. Nurses today want their leaders to be coaches and support their career advancement goals.
The challenge with a one-and-done culture is that you need to lead differently, and that is the part that we still need to figure out. When interviewed, Coach K. acknowledged how challenging it is to coach players when up to 50% of the roster can change yearly. Yet – he has learned to do it. He had no choice, and we don’t either.
© emergingrnleader.com 2022
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