Helping Millennial Nurses Connect With Their Patients

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

During the past few years, some nurse leaders have talked with me about the difficulty that some young nurses have in establishing connections with the patients that they care for. They wonder aloud if the fine art of conversation was still being taught in school. My faculty colleagues also comment on a different student population who are often more comfortable texting than talking.

Everything I heard about communication problems was anecdotal evidence until I read about the findings of a study conducted by Dr. Heather Caramanzana published in HealthLeaders Media on July 19th, 2019 – Millennial Nurses Need Patient Connection to Thrive Professionally. Dr. Caramananzana, a nurse manager on a brain injury unit, noticed that some of her young nurses were not able to verbalize touch points in their careers where they began to feel like a real nurse because they had made such a difference in a patient’s life. She shadowed her nurses and noted that their conversations with patients were so brief that they were not making connections nor did they demonstrate compassion. This led to her research study looking at how Millennial nurses connect with their patients in the 21st Century.

She learned through her work that Millennial nurses were having challenges connecting with patients. While they saw the connection with patients as important, they reported being uncertain as to how to incorporate it into their daily tasks. Many were just not comfortable engaging in conversations. Time was also identified as an issue. What was remarkable was how insightful the 12 study participants were about the importance of connection not only to the patient and family but also to the nurse. For nurses, connection leads to professional fulfillment. Without it, nurses report feeling unfufilled and don’t see the true value in their work. A key research finding was that the participants acknowledged that they did not know how to connect – this type of caring had not been part of their nursing program. They wanted simulation with caring and connection skills.

As an outcome of her work, Dr. Caramanzana urges nurse leaders to be more intentional in both observing and teaching the skill of connection with patients. Providing simulated experiences during orientation is a good first step. Leaders also need to role model conversations with patients and urge young nurses to develop some of their own go-to questions to help them learn more about their patients.

We know from research around HCAHPS surveys that both nonverbal and verbal interactions with nursing staff strongly influence patient perceptions of whether they feel their nurse has listened to them. Interpersonal skills and the art of conversation can be learned but it takes practice. Dr. Caramanazana’s work may help explain why so many hospitals today struggle with their HCAHPS scores. We may be assuming that our young nurses can connect with patients and this assumption could be wrong.

Read Rose Sherman’s new book available now – The Nurse Leader Coach: Become the Boss No One Wants to Leave