Professionalism and Authentic Leadership
Professional Development
Professional Development took on a whole new meaning in 2020. When we were facing a global pandemic, one of our first action items was to train all nurses and assistive staff in PPE donning and doffing. Classes were offered around the clock for weeks. Proper donning and doffing was and is one of our most important strategies to stay safe during COVID.
Between times of pandemic surge, Nursing Professional Development worked behind the scenes to offer a few key workshops, like Peripheral IV, Charge Nurse, Preceptor and Workplace Violence. In addition, new leadership training was offered in a three month long Nurse Manager Orientation, one day RN3 Orientation. Teaching during COVID brought it’s own challenges, and most offerings were moved to Zoom. Our Clinical Nurse Educators did provide training in person throughout the pandemic as well, and the utmost care was taken to provide safety for all.
For certification at Montlake, 73% of our units exceeded their national benchmarks for at least 5 quarters. We have programs to support nurses, achieving additional formal education and certification.
We enjoyed a surge of self-care and well-being education that came from many directions, including “Cultivating Compassion” and “Stress First Aid.” Nurses were exploring self-care in many ways, personally and in the workplace.
A pandemic certainly makes traditional professional development difficult, but our nurses continued to learn and grow during 2020 and provided the best care possible.