Resources in Today's Episode
Key Takeaways
Learnings from an Experienced Health System Marketer Turned Nurse
- Remembering the patients are your number one priority!
- Yes, your job is to bring in business to the hospital or health system you work for, but it is truly all about the patients at the end of the day.
- Have a very firm understanding of what is happening in the community you serve.
- Use language that your target audience can actually understand, not what the physicians want you to use.
- Internal comms and marketing all need to be talking — and you can’t forget that internal is a key audience too.
Engaging Nursing Staff
- Encourage teamwork: Being in VERY close contact with the internal communication team will help marketing teams know what struggles nurses (and all staff) are facing.
- Be genuine:Get to know actual nurses, and do from a place of genuine concern for them and their well-being, not just to gather inelegance for your own gain.
- Ask for feedback: Ask nurses to be part of the conversation when developing materials and ask for feedback. Ask them to the table.
- Show support: Get leadership to get out on the floor and make an effort to learn about the issues and challenges that the staff are facing.
- They would rather have proper PPE than a pizza party.
- Listen to needs: Needs change, and they change quickly during COVID-19.
- Express empathy: Create a culture of empathy in your materials. Show empathy for each other and patients.
Nurse Engagement Strategies
- Don’t accept turnover as a given.
- Nurses shouldn’t be treated as cost centers.
- There needs to be a recognition that turnover is costly.
- It costs less to retain an employee than it does to recruit and employee.
- Nurses are good at telling when people aren’t being genuine and don’t want you to waste their time.
- The messages and feedback nurses provide need to get to the right people to actually make change.
- Engage nurses in the community, not just your employees.
Guidance on How to Boost Morale
- Authenticity is key: Encourage leaders to jump in and support in any way possible, even advocating for nurse’s needs.
