Maintaining Positivity

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

How do I stay positive? It is a question that many leaders now ask in the face of significant staffing shortages, mounting budget issues, and a turbulent healthcare environment. Consider the following story a leader shared with me:

By nature, I am an optimist, but now it is hard. I am seeing levels of negativity from staff that I have not seen in my career. They are so angry and upset about staffing that our conversations naturally drift to a dark place. I no longer say it will improve because I am not sure it will. I don’t want to be one of those leaders with toxic positivity who downplays the reality of staffing struggles. How can I shift our team culture to be more positive?

This leader is not alone in her dilemma. She can’t ignore the reality of the challenges in healthcare, yet she also cannot allow a culture of negativity to become normalized. Complaining as a default response to everything becomes habitual. Negativity in teams erodes morale and leads to team turnover.

In further conversations with this leader, I learned that not every team nurse was negative. She had several energy vampires who were sucking the lifeblood from the team. These nurses were pessimistic and engaged in drama and gossip. We first discussed the need not to engage in negativity as a leader. She would need to coach the energy vampires individually to discuss the impact of their behavior on the team.

Unlike happiness which is a mood that comes and goes depending on the context of situations, positivity is a mindset. It is a choice one makes to be future-focused and solutions-oriented in your approach to situations. When demonstrating positivity, leaders use appreciative inquiry, focusing on the assets that are there and not as much on deficits. It is controlling the controllable and letting go of that which is not in your control.

Five Strategies to Move Team Cultures to Be More Positive

1. Change the questions you ask to promote positivity. Some good coaching questions to ask team members include:

• What made you smile today?
• What are the best parts of your job?
• What brings you the most joy in your work?
• What do you bring to this team when you are at your best?
• What are you grateful for in your life?
• What did you do for a patient today that made you feel good?
• Where is the opportunity here?

2. Promote Strengths-Based Teamwork – Gallup researchers have demonstrated that when staff know and use their strengths, they thrive and are more engaged even in stressful situations. Ideally, you would use the Gallup Strengths Finder. You can also help staff identify their strengths by asking the following questions:

• What do you enjoy most about the work you do every day?
• What comes naturally to you in your work that others struggle with?
• What are some of the things you do in your work that you receive compliments about?
• What do you look forward to doing each day at work?
• What hobbies do you have outside of work?

3. Build a Complaint-Free Culture – in his book, Will Bowen points out that complaining is habitual, and some staff may not realize how negative they are. He proposes a 21-day challenge built on the quote from Maya Angelou “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it – change your attitude.”  My blog on this topic explains the 21-day challenge.

4. Institute Random Acts of Kindness Days – there is strong evidence that random acts of kindness in the workplace improve team positivity, self-esteem, and connectedness. For some creative ideas on how to get started – visit the random acts of kindness foundation website.

5. Express Gratitude – Thanking others makes us feel more positive. Expressions of thanks can also help reframe adversity. A charge nurse told me that he tries to point out at least one positive thing every team member did at the end of shift huddle, such as:

• Karen – thank you for taking the admission even when it was not your turn.
• Jay – thank you for ordering lunch and picking it up for all of us.
• Maddie – thank you for staying calm today, even though I know how anxious you must feel with how chaotic things are.
• Jada – thank you for making those nursing students feel so welcome. You are such a pro at this.

If you have a very negative culture, the change may happen slowly. As with so many things we do in leadership, cultural change takes time. Start slowly and implement one or more of these strategies. Then suddenly and sometimes unexpectedly, the momentum seems to shift quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Programs/Books Your Leaders May Find Valuable

From Traditional Nurse Leader to Nurse Leader Coach – Click Here for the Flyer

For new leaders and emerging leaders, consider doing The Nuts and Bolts of Nursing Leadership Program – Click Here for the Nuts and Bolts Flyer Final

New Leader Development Option in 2023 – Team Coaching Designed to the Unique Needs of Your Organization  Leader Coaching Brochure

Read the Nurse Leader Coach – Available at Amazon and Other Book Sellers

Recommended Book by the Association of Critical Care Nurses – The Nuts and Bolts of Nursing Leadership: Your Toolkit for Success