Joi Johnson has been the Nurse Manager on our unit for a little less than 2 years, however, to speak with her and to hear her vision, one would never know it. Joi entered the leadership team with a breath of fresh air, ideas and excitement that has invigorated and inspired the entire team.
From the start, it was plain to all that she had a strong desire, commitment and will to improve things. She came into an environment of low staff morale, which can't help but impact patient care. Her goal was to make ours a safe, caring environment for all patients; to truly put patients first. Joi frequently interacts with patients, listening and taking to heart their concerns and sharing these with staff. We had long-standing rules based on the rationale that "that's the way we've always done it"; and she challenged these. It has been challenges like these that have served to increase patient satisfaction in the care they receive on our unit. She listens to staff (stressing that every staff member's input has value), works hard to build "team spirit" and tries to be fair.
Joi has maintained an open door and open communication policy, encouraging, grooming and mentoring staff with various educational, growth, enrichment and team building opportunities. Among other activities, she elicited and inspired the staff to come together to take part in decorating the unit for Nurses' Week. This was the first time the team truly participated in this Nurses' Week activity in many, many years. The majority of staff participated by making items, coming in on their days off to assist in decorating, and purchasing items. The entire unit was buzzing with excitement.
Early in the year, Joi put together a team building activity outside of the hospital. Participation and sign-up were initially slow. Joi continued to encourage team involvement. As word and momentum grew, more and more staff became interested. By the end of the outings, the staff was excited, enthused and had deeper respect for the team. Out of this one act of team building, the unit developed a unit action committee. This committee has dedicated a team lead and participants for each month to do various unit and non-unit based activities.
Joi continually strives to motivate staff in positive, creative ways to enhance work satisfaction and provide growth opportunities for all. It is easy to see why the NDNQI Nursing Management scores have risen 1.73 points from 2016 to 2017. It is also clear that she continually works hard on herself to be a better leader. We could not ask for a better role model.