PPrreessssuurree PPrrooooff NNuurrsseess ......Having to work at the top of your game whilst feeling...

________________________________________________________________________ Michael Licenblat – Bounce Back Fast

[email protected] ~ http://www.BounceBackFast.com

Tel: (03) 9579-7098, Postal: PO Box 342, South Caulfield, 3162, VIC

How to accelerate productivity in

high pressure environments –

without burning out

By Michael Licenblat

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Please be sure to take specialist advice before taking on any of the ideas. This book is

general in nature and not meant to replace any specific advice. Positive Performance

Solutions and Bounce Back Fast employees of said company and brand derivations

disclaim all and any liability to any persons whatsoever in respect of anything done by

any person in reliance, whether in whole or in part, on this e-book.




About the Author: Michael Licenblat

In the world of healthcare no matter how confident,

competent or experienced you are – pressure is a part of

every process. How well you handle those challenges,

changes and problems will often determine how successful

you are going be.

Michael Licenblat is a resilience expert who teaches people

how to bounce back from challenges and setbacks – and

perform better under pressure.

Drawing on his background in Psychology, Shiatsu therapy,

and over 25 years of Martial Arts experience, Michael has

helped countless companies become 'pressure proof' and

learn how to bounce back from setbacks and challenges so

they can out perform their competition.

In Michael’s high energy, interactive and practical program, he demystifies what people

need to do to become resilient to pressure in today’s business world, and keep a clear

head when dealing with difficult, demanding and stressful situations – without burning

out.

Michael is the author of the book ‘Pressure Proof – how to thrive in times of disruption,

change and pressure’. His articles are regularly published in a variety of journals, and he

has delivered presentations to organizations such as Toyota, REIV, Smartline Mortgage

Group, MLC Insurance, St George, Coles Myer Ltd., Pitcher Partners, SEEK, Caterpillar,

Maurice Blackburn, Maunsell, SalesForce, and Victorian Parliament.




Nurses and medical practitioners are the life-blood of hospitals. Their energy and enthusiasm are key

drivers behind quality of care, public image, practice standards and patient satisfaction. With growing

patient expectations, increased pressure on healthcare, and higher hospital standards, doctors and nurses

have to adapt faster, work harder and manage more, whilst providing a positive patient experience.

As a result, nurses and medical professionals are under an increasing amount of pressure to continually

produce high patient care, work long shifts, manage multiple tasks, handle higher patient ratios, and deal

with stressed patients.

Having to work at the top of your game whilst feeling stressed out, overloaded and run down can be a

challenge for even the most experienced medical practitioners. There will be times where nurses will not

be able to eliminate their source of pressure, like finding an extra nurse to cover a shift, having an

overflow of patients on the ward, or having insufficient experienced staff on shift.

One survey revealed that 70% of nurses seriously considered leaving the profession, citing ‘overwork

and pressure’ as the number one reason. Reports have found that shift work, scheduling, risk of exposure

to infectious disease, and violence in the emergency department, as well as malpractice litigation and

decreasing compensation can also contribute to a stress and pressure overload in nurses.

“Eight out of 10 nurses report being

under more pressure at work than

they were 12 months ago.” (Nursing Times, December 2015)

“Stress and mental health problems affect 87% of

emergency staff. Nearly nine out of 10 staff and volunteers

experience stress, low mood and poor mental health at

some point while working for the emergency services.” (Nursing Times, 2015)




While a portion of people thrive when managing endless multiple and simultaneous priorities, the reality

for many nurses is that the impact of sustained pressure results in inconsistent patient care, reduced

drive, more stress, and a higher potential of burnout and staff turnover.

Mounting work pressure may drive up reports of stress and absenteeism. The resources required to source

replacement staff, ensure patient care continuity, and manage general workloads is both time consuming

and a financial burden on the hospital budget.

When stress in nurses builds up, it can manifest in inter-team conflict and emotional tension. Not only is

this a distraction from a nurse’s core function, it can have a negative impact on the morale of other staff.

It also requires managers to put in extra time and resources to resolve issues that could have been avoided

with the practice of proactive pressure management.

When confronted with problems, patient complaints, changes in systems, or an increasing workload, nurses

may struggle to maintain their personal drive and positive outlook. When your nurses feel emotionally flat,

it reflects negatively in their patient engagement and work quality, and workload management.

According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, medical practitioners who experience

burnout can find that involvement and engagement may be replaced by exhaustion, cynicism and

indifference. Patience and compassion may be replaced by anger, bitterness and frustration; and the feeling

of being a part of a greater whole may be replaced by alienation and isolation.

The same study found that rate of substance dependence, depression and suicide are substantially higher

among physicians than among the general population.

"The stresses of emergency

medicine are many and

cumulative. They can lead

to job dissatisfaction,

illness and burnout,"

Jay A. Kaplan, MD, Medical

Director, Studer Group, and Director

of Service Excellence for California

Emergency Physicians.

“Healthcare ranks third of the top three industries with high

turnover rates. The average cost of turnover a nurse is

$45,000, costing hospitals up to $8.1 million annually.” (National Healthcare Retention & RN Staffing Report)




Whilst pressure is an inevitable presence in any hospital it doesn't need to be at the detriment of the work

quality, patient care or nurse wellbeing. With the correct infusion of practical resilience strategies, nurses

and medical practitioners can bounce back faster from stresses and challenges and perform better under

pressure.

Rather than just dealing with the fallout of stress and burnout through reactive methods that primarily focuses

on dealing with the symptoms of stress, nurses and medical practitioners would greatly benefit from learning

resilience skills that can reduce the initial incidence of stress and burnout in the first instance, and allow them

to bounce back fast from pressure and tension. Think inoculation versus a bigger band aid.

By helping nurses and medical practitioners to increase their resistance to pressure, they will be able to reduce

the negative impact of high pressure, time pressed environments, and turn stress into energy and enthusiasm.

Thus allowing them to work at their best, provide high levels of care, and create a sustainable career.

Modern day resilience is a proactive skill set that serves both their professional and personal life.

The current approach to pressure

management is problem oriented

(reducing stress symptoms). Nurses

and physicians would benefit from a

strengths and solutions-oriented

approach, such as resilience, as it is

more preventive and proactive in

approach. (McAllister, 2007; Robinson and Sirard, 2005)

What protects individuals

from succumbing to stress and

what methods they use to

moderate stress are important

factors in resilience

(Margaret McAllister, author ‘The Resilient Nurse’)

Band-Aid or Prevention Solutions?




Know Your Pressure Profile

There are five key patterns of behavior that people exhibit when they are dealing with

pressures and setbacks. They are the High Performance, Driven, Coasting, Disengaged

and Destructive (see Figure 1.1). Whilst all teams typically have a mix of these pressure

profiles, people have the ability to ascend to a higher profile when the right strategy is

applied.

The black section represents not managing with strain, the red section represents

managing with strain, and the blue section represents thriving without strain.

The first aspiration is to have the team develop the base resilience and sit above the red

lines, which is where they can cope with it all, but at a cost. The ultimate goal is to help

them operate above the blue line, where they bounce back fast from the challenges and

setbacks that may otherwise wear them down and burn them out, hence allowing them to

thrive and excel.

Figure 1.1: Pressure Profile




At the Destructive level, people become negative and pessimistic when confronted with

pressure and change. They are totally exhausted and exacerbated by the pressure around

them and feel like they have broken down.

People at this level can have a ‘victim mentality’ where they blame the world, and

everyone around them, for their problems. They choose to complain about problems and

focus on why life is unfair, why this always happens to them, and why things won’t get

better.

Their negativity becomes toxic on the people around them, and can bring down the

energy, enthusiasm, and productivity level of their team. They obstruct progress, block

the implementation of new initiatives, and resist personal growth and change.

The Destructive level not only impairs personal productivity and drive, but it also drains

the engagement and cohesiveness of their entire team.

DESTRUCTIVE ‘Draining energy’




Disengaged is where people feel despondent or apathetic. Pressure and long working

hours has worn them down to a point where they have lost their spark. People either don’t

care about their work as it is just a means to an end, or they have had enough of caring and

have emotionally switched off. At the Disengaged level, there is little or virtually no

display of initiative, enthusiasm is labored, and motivation is weakened.

Disengaged is also a stage where one feels overwhelmed, overloaded, or burdened.

Sometimes people find themselves at this level because of a setback or failure that has

left them feeling flat and defeated. People used to try or care, but now feel too weighted

down by their expectations or pressures that they feel an inability, or lack of desire, to

take action.

The Disengaged level impairs your productivity, motivation and engagement which can

also hinder the work-flow of the wider team.

DISENGAGED ‘Doing time’




People at the Coasting level are doing what they need to do, but not an inch more. They

‘tick the boxes’, fulfill their requirements, and complete tasks to the standard that is

expected of them. They can go into automatic pilot, stepping through the motions in

order to get the job done to an adequate level of completion. Pressure strains their

motivation, resulting in doing mediocre work, and aspiring to achieve a ‘sufficient’

standard.

At the Coasting level people are competent, able, and have potential, however, they are

comfortable in their role and are not motivated to do more or go over and above their

expectations. When asked to help outside the boundaries of their role, they often present

with the ‘it’s not my job’ or ‘I can’t be bothered’ type of work ethic.

COASTING ‘Ticking boxes’




At the Driven level, people are more durable, committed, very capable, and reactive to

changes around them. They respond to pressure by embracing challenges, taking initiative,

and getting things done. They have less time for complaints and problems, and focus their

attention on finding ways to handle everything that life throws at them.

They are quick to take on responsibility and give of themselves in order to make things

work and solve problems. As a result, they are constantly multi-tasking, over packing their

day, and having lots of projects running simultaneously, even at the expense of achieving

their own priorities.

Their desire to achieve can heighten their stress levels as they try to do too much in not

enough time, making them vulnerable to stress induced ailments, illnesses, and burnout.

DRIVEN ‘Working hard’




At the High Performance level, people move beyond getting through their day and

recovering from pressure to being proactive and improving. Like a diamond, being under

pressure brings out the best version of them. They are nimble and adapt well to whatever

circumstances or challenges are presented to them, without compromising on their quality

of work or wellbeing. They are agile and frequently anticipate what challenges lies

ahead and prepare to be in the best position to thrive.

Under pressure, they remain optimistic and resourceful whilst simultaneously

empowering others around them to do the same. They bring the best out of their team

through their support, insight, and communication and, because of that, they align and

unify a team, and help people to fulfill their greater potential in the workplace.

The High Performance level is able to sustain a high level of output, without burning out,

and have a superior ability to recover quickly from setbacks & challenges.

HIGH PERFORMANCE ‘Pressure Proof’




Pressure Proofing is the Currency of Success

Pressure Proofing is key to high performance. More specifically, it is the speed and

frequency that you recover from your obstacles and challenges, whilst streamlining your

productivity and efficiencies, which determines how well you will achieve your

outcomes, and deliver high quality work when working under pressure.

It doesn’t matter how well qualified you are, how much experience you have, or how

many awards you have achieved, personal effectiveness comes from what you do right

now, with what you have, in the environment you are in.

For most people, failing to become Pressure Proof isn’t because they aren't good enough.

On the contrary - they fail to be Pressure Proof because they don’t have the right

resilience strategies for a modern, fast paced, world.

The Pressure Proof Model (see Fig 1.2) is a multi-faceted approach that incorporates the

4 key aspects that builds your skills in a systematic and practical process that helps

people ascend to a higher ‘pressure profile’.

Figure 1.2: Pressure Proof Model




The Pressure Proof Qualities

Centredness ‘Calm down’ When dealing with setbacks, failure, or overload, people’s

emotions can get out of control leading to high intensity

feelings of anxiety, panic, depression, or frazzled. Staying

focused under pressure requires keeping a level head and

emotional consistency. Being centred calms emotional

tension and reduces the intensity of their reactions and

responses to pressures.

Tenacity ‘Focus in’ Results come from consistent action. Continual pressure can

erode one’s motivation and drive to stay on track and deliver

high quality outcomes and client experiences. Having a

relentless drive, intrinsic motivation, and commitment, that

pushes past personal discouragement is core to bringing out

an individual’s fuller potential.

Adaptability ‘Flow with’ Life rarely goes according to plan. Continual interruptions,

extra workloads, and unforeseeable problems are part of the

business landscape. Being willing to flow with change,

improvise new strategies, and create solutions will determine

one’s ability to achieve their outcomes in spite of the

obstacles and challenges they are confronted with on a daily

basis.

Sustainability ‘Fuel up’ The pressure of today’s fast paced and time poor environment

can take its toll on your energy, drive, and wellbeing. Using

self-management strategies, you can replenish your energy

reserves, create lasting job satisfaction, and maintain good

health whilst preventing yourself from getting run down and

losing your passion for your work.




Final Words

As your team improves their Pressure Profile, so will their ability to consistently perform

better under pressure, accelerate their personal productivity, and increase their client

engagement. By integrating the strategies behind each of the pressure proof principles

(Centredness, Tenacity, Adaptability, and Sustainability) staff are able to elevate their

pressure profile to be pressure proof and thrive.

Your Next Steps…

STEP 1: Get the Diagnostic

Download a complimentary copy of the Pressure Proof Diagnostic

that will ascertain how resilient you, and your team, measure up on

the resilience scale, and advise you on what next step you can take

to perform better under pressure.

Simply send me an email from

http://www.bouncebackfast.com/contact.html

STEP 2: Read the Book

Get your copy of Michael’s book ‘Pressure Proof – how to thrive in

times of disruption, change and pressure’. This will provide you

with a comprehensive insight on building a resilient team and

performing better under pressure.

Purchase from http://www.BounceBackFast.com

STEP 3: Let’s have a conversation

If the principles in this white paper resonate with the

goals and aspirations you have for your business and staff,

then let’s have a conversation to see how we can help you

get started.

Simply send me an email from

http://www.bouncebackfast.com/contact.html

http://www.bouncebackfast.com/

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