Many years ago, when I hadn’t worked at the Ebersberger Kreisklinik for a number of years, I approached my boss at the time and asked if I could have a certain weekend off – my sister’s wedding weekend. Months in advance I therefore contacted my boss. When he finally handed out the corresponding duty roster, I was amazed: I was supposed to work on exactly this one weekend.
Again and again there were situations in which we as a team realized that the wishes of us nursing staff were irrelevant to our boss. What’s more, we were given rosters that no sane person could consider acceptable. The plan also included that I should have three days off in a month – something like that didn’t just happen once.
It’s completely different in the Ebersberg intensive care unit. Our department management takes our wishes into account as much as possible. With 60 nurses in the team, this is anything but an easy task. It is openly communicated if, for example, it is particularly difficult to meet all preferences in one month.
For me, this is a sign of appreciation and respect towards us. This creates a good atmosphere in the team – and that promotes motivation.
Intensive care specialist Pola Gülberg from the Ebersberger district clinic.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
Motivation is important in every job in order to do a good job – of course. And it’s not immediately there just because a good boss is there. But good team leadership is the basic requirement for a motivating working atmosphere. At my previous job, almost everyone soon wanted to work at night, so our boss wasn’t in the house. Of course, that didn’t work out, so more and more people left our team – including me.
There is hardly any fluctuation in the intensive care unit. Those who give up their jobs mostly move to another city because, for example, their partner starts a new job there. Or they quit for other family reasons. But not because the team is broken by the management.
Good nursing stands or falls with a good boss. Of course, none of us vent our frustrations about working with patients – I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing. But due to the shortage of skilled workers, it is relatively easy for us to find another job in nursing. The quality of care could still suffer due to understaffing and constant staff turnover. Therefore, every department manager is very well advised to treat each individual team member with respect and to communicate openly – as is the case with the Ebersberg intensive care unit.
Pola Gülberg is an intensive care nurse. In this column, the 38-year-old talks about her work at the district clinic in Ebersberg every week. The collected texts are below sueddeutsche.de/thema/Auf Station to find.