Every day, nurses across the country go above and beyond the call of duty, providing compassionate, exceptional care in the face of adversity and uncertainty. While we at Wambi celebrate the nursing workforce 365 days of the year, we are also taking this time to intentionally pause and recognize the necessity and impact of nurses in honor of National Nurses Week.  

The 2022 National Nurses Week theme is “You Make a Difference.” At Wambi, we are proud to shine a light on meaningful moments and show nurses every day that they make a difference in the lives of so many individuals. The beautiful and inspiring collection of gratitude shared each day on the Wambi recognition platform shines a light on the impact nurses make on patients, team members, and hospital systems.  

Throughout the month of April, Wambi users were encouraged to nominate nurses who they believe embody one of Wambi’s core values: compassion, joy, gratitude, fearlessness, and imagination for the Wambi Nurse of the Year Award. Over 500 inspiring stories were shared from across the country—the winning nomination will be announced during Nurses Week.  

With over 20 years of experience in executive nursing roles, Wambi’s Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Bonnie Clipper DNP, MBA, MA, RN, CENP, FACHE, FAAN understands the importance of nurses and the challenges these individuals face each day. As a recognized expert in the future of nursing and nursing innovation, she is sought out as a speaker and advisor including being named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Healthcare. She shares her valuable insight in honor of this year’s National Nurses Week celebration.  

Can you tell us how burnout and retention challenges continue to impact the nursing industry?  

“We have seen through the past two years the toll that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on nursing. The turnover rate in 2021 hit nearly 19% and survey after survey indicates that almost 30% of nurses say that they may leave at the end of the year. And certainly, the recent criminal indictment of a nurse who made a fatal medication error has shaken all of us to the core. 

We need a pause from the extremely high-stress times and a chance to reflect on why we became nurses. Nursing is such an important profession in terms of the impact that we make. We need to be supported by a positive ecosystem and a culture that we want to be a part of.

We know from survey data over the past two years that the top few reasons that nurses leave or are considering leaving are often consistent. These reasons are generally workload/staffing, pay, and feeling undervalued and unappreciated. We have to find ways to provide positive work environments that nurses want to be a part of, and just cultures that support them.” 

How can we celebrate nurses, particularly during this challenging time?  

“While we know that we have much work to do around workload, staffing, and pay, we don’t often talk about how we might improve the way that we demonstrate appreciation and recognition to not only nurses but all employees. This doesn’t come in the form of free pizza or donuts, but rather through genuine and authentic appreciation of the work or gratitude for the effort. The work of nurses and essentially all healthcare professions and support staff is undervalued. These roles are physically demanding and emotionally exhausting on a continual basis. Thus, finding ways to support these teams is critically important to not only the wellbeing of the team, but also patient safety and excellent patient care.  

As I visit different organizations around the country, clearly some are doing this better than others. I have seen everything from handwritten thank you notes on a large scale to emailing videos from leaders to staff. These are great ideas and, if sincere, are appreciated by the receiver as it does demonstrate a sense of being appreciated, which in turn provides a sense of feeling valued.”   

While the methods that Dr. Clipper mentions are worthwhile, they often take time and require commitment for the desired effect. What if there was a faster and easier way to do this? With Wambi, there is. 

Simple to deploy and fun to use, Wambi makes it easy to share thank you’s regularly and transforms the healthcare experience through the power of gratitude. By celebrating meaningful moments, the recognition and culture transformation platform increases workforce engagement and helps improve retention and patient experience. Wambi provides patients and families the opportunity to share meaningful gratitude for individual caregivers, creating actionable real-time insight into the patient experience. Team members feel uplifted and inspired by gratitude and recognition, which helps create an authentic sense of belonging. And leaders recognize and encourage their teams, building a culture of gratitude where team members are valued and stay. 

In honor of all nurses, we’d like to invite you to join our celebration of uplifting and recognizing the essential contributions of nurses nationwide. Be sure to visit the National Nurses Week resource page to download printable cards, discover partners and retailers who are showering nurses with freebies and discounts, and celebrate virtually with festive video call backgrounds.  

If you are a Wambi client, be sure to incorporate Wambi into your Nurses Week celebrations by utilizing the interactive Newsfeed and sending values–based Wambis. If you are not a Wambi client yet, let us show you how you can shine a light on your entire healthcare workforce by requesting a demo today.  

At Wambi, we’re proud to recognize and celebrate the healthcare staff who impact the patient experience all year long. In honor of Patient Experience Week, we want to share our gratitude and appreciation for their hard work and continued impact!  

PX Week is a great time to applaud your team and encourage camaraderie, while also spreading the word about efforts to improve the patient experience that are being made throughout your facility. If you are searching for ways to recognize this impactful week, check out these five easy recommendations:  

1. Post on your Wambi Newsfeed 
2. Send Wambis from the Service Excellence category  
3. Post Patient Wambis on your social media channels 
4. Celebrate with free resources from The Beryl Institute  
5. Say thank you with a sweet treat 

The great thing about Wambi is the ability to share so many different forms of gratitude on your organization’s platform. Encourage leaders to record videos or take photos on their phones that can be posted on your Wambi Newsfeed. Words are powerful and posting a video or photo to show your thanks will truly leave an impact. Using the prompt “We are ALL the Patient Experience,” helps to build connection between your staff and celebrate all the ways your team collectively impacts patient experience. Videos and photos can be posted throughout the week and can even be scheduled in advance. Consider starting each day throughout the week with an inspiring post!  

At a loss for words? Read aloud a patient Wambi that highlights the PX Team at your facility! 

Keep things simple with genuine words of gratitude–focused on the patient! In addition to sending Wambis celebrating values, teamwork, gratitude, birthdays, and holidays, Wambi users also have access to a Service Excellence category. These Wambi designs were created for peers and leaders to recognize each other for going above and beyond to support patients and their families. Whether you want to celebrate a team member who was a great advocate or listener, who showed empathy and kindness, or simply provided a great patient experience, there are a variety of designs that can be used to help team members connect back to their purpose.  

Be sure to send your PX Team a celebratory Service Excellence Wambi to let them know how appreciated they are at your organization! There’s nothing quite like the feeling of being seen for the hard work that you do every day.  

Need some help getting started? Here are a few message ideas:  

• In scary and often uncertain situations, you are always there to provide a sense of peace for our patients.  
• Your compassion and understanding always shine through!  
• With an open heart and mind, you are always there to bring comfort to our patients and their families. 
• Listening is your superpower! Thank you for taking the time to understand the needs of our patients.  
• Keepers of the peace, mediators at the bedside, for you we are so grateful! 
• You go above and beyond the call of duty every day. We are so thankful!  

Not only do Wambi users receive recognition and gratitude from one another, Wambi’s unique recognition software allows patients and families to share real-time feedback with those who are involved in their care experience. By collecting these positive stories and gratitude in the moment, Wambi helps recognize team members for their outstanding work to ultimately improve the patient experience. By hearing directly from the individuals that they have cared for, team members are connected back to their ‘why’, helping them combat burnout and fatigue. 

In celebration of PX Week, collect some of your favorite patient Wambis and share them on your facility’s social media channels. This is a great way to not only highlight the inspiring work that your team is doing, but also encourages other patients and families to share feedback and send Wambis. Remember, it doesn’t matter if they were a patient a day, a month, or even a year ago – they can still send a note of gratitude! Download our Patient Experience Week social media images to encourage patients to submit a Wambi.

The Beryl Institute is committed to transforming the human experience in healthcare. The organization leads the charge in improving patient experience while providing proven tactics and development opportunities to healthcare professionals. In honor of PX Week, they have everything you need to make your celebrations as easy as possible. Check out their free resources including celebration ideas, activities, and resources like customized staff recognition templates, a coloring page, and social media posts.

A tried-and-true way to show your appreciation: sweet treats! At Wambi, we love supporting local businesses; It’s a great way to show you care about your team and your community. Pick up a cookie tray from a local bakery or order a platter from nationally known bakeries like Delicious Orchards that can be delivered. Include a handwritten message of thanks to make this already yummy treat even more meaningful.

What do you have planned for PX Week? We’d love to hear how you are incorporating Wambi into your celebrations. If you are a client, be sure to visit the Community Forum and share how you are recognizing this week.

If you’re not already a Wambi client, now is the time to discover how Wambi transforms the healthcare experience for patients and staff through the power of gratitude! Request a personalized demo of the platform today.  

Spring marks a time of rebirth and rejuvenation. New flowers, new leaves, new hours of daylight. With so much revitalization, why not a new mindset? The start of spring is the perfect time to reinvigorate with key practices focused on self-care. Check out a few ways you can embrace the season.  

The emergence of warmer weather and additional daylight creates a perfect opportunity to spend more time outdoors which can boost your physical and emotional health! Park Rx America shares that time spent in green spaces improves sleep, immunity, attention, and mood while decreasing blood pressure, stress, and anxiety. Springtime can be particularly captivating because you can watch new flowers begin to bud and grow. Find a nature trail, park, or any green space near you and spend time reveling in nature’s beauty.  

And if you’re still struggling to recover from the start of Daylight Savings, spending time outside in the sun is a great way to get your body clock in tune with the time change. “A good dose of sunlight, even if it’s just for 15 minutes first thing in the morning, can help your body wake up and reset for the day ahead.”  

From holiday decorations to new kitchen gadgets, gifts, and cold-weather clothes, many of us spend the winter season accumulating new stuff. Spring is a perfect time to clean the slate. Make time during the season for spring cleaning. Penn Medicine notes that clutter can elevate stress hormones, wreaking havoc on your body and mind. Taking time to organize and declutter your space can promote a sense of wellbeing. Plus, donating any unused or unwanted items means they might find a second life with someone who needs them. 

Does your office or workspace also need some spring-cleaning attention? Decluttering the space around us can help to free up mental space, allow us to think more clearly, and reduce stress. Make a point to clear out your inbox and tidy up your work area at the end of each day.  

Do you ever feel like you’re wandering through the day on autopilot? We seldom stop to savor pleasant moments but instead allow ourselves to be sucked into negative thought patterns. Practicing mindfulness means we are truly present in the moment with a non-judgmental awareness of what is happening in our bodies and minds. The Greater Good Science Center lists increased memory, attention, resilience, and compassion for self and others as benefits of practicing mindfulness.   

In a recent article, Wambi’s Product Evangelist Melanie Alm shares the benefits of mindfulness and the many ways to practice it. From meditation and breathing exercises to mindful movement like yoga, spring is the perfect season to try something new and enjoy the benefits of a deliberate mental break.  

Many of us spent the winter months cooped up inside, safe from the cold, harsh weather. Reconnecting and spending time with people we love is a guaranteed way to reinvigorate and feel better. As Daniel Goleman writes in Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships, “Resonant relationships are like emotional vitamins, sustaining us through tough times and nourishing us daily.” Bonus points if you meet up with friends, family, and loved ones for a walk in nature!  

If you can’t reconnect in person, there are many ways you can let someone know you’re thinking of them virtually. One great way is through Wambi! The healthcare recognition platform enables individualized recognition so employees feel seen, respected, and more connected. 

The Wambi platform has also received a spring refresh with new seasonal Wambis which change throughout the year to celebrate holidays and seasons. One client shared how they love that the design library stays fresh and appreciates the new designs. “Leaders get excited about seeing new Wambis and it encourages them to send even more!” Are you a Wambi client? Be sure to log in and send some springtime appreciation.  

With so many great springtime activities, make a bucket list of all the things you want to do throughout the season. These activities are great to do during your breaks or before and after a shift. Grab some colleagues and plan an activity to do together at the hospital.  

Let this season of sunshine and flowers inspire your own season of flourishing. Did you know that sharing gratitude can also help you flourish? Gratitude creates an awareness of what is going well in your life, elevating positive emotions, strengthening relationships, and fostering wellbeing, so you can truly thrive. 

Through Wambi, patients and families can share meaningful gratitude for caregivers, creating real-time insight into the patient experience. Ready to spring into action? Schedule a 30-minute personalized demo and find out how the Wambi platform helps your healthcare system unlock real-time, individualized recognition.