Belonging & Inclusion in the Nursing Workplace

What does it mean for nurses to truly belong—and why does it matter? In this powerful episode, leaders from the Disruptor Diaries podcast explore how belonging and inclusion impact retention, safety, and team culture. Through personal stories and practical strategies, they highlight the harm of exclusion, the role of language, and the importance of psychological safety. Listeners will gain actionable insights to foster belonging and build healthier, more inclusive workplaces where nurses thrive.

GUESTS: Jillian Russell, MSN, RN, NPDA-BC®
Co-Founder J&J ElevatED Consulting LLC, Nursing Professional Development Specialist
Jillian Russell has been a registered nurse for 16 years. She obtained her MSN in 2012 and has experienced a variety of nursing roles—bedside clinician, research nurse, manager, NPD practitioner, and independent contractor. Jill is currently serving as Vanderbilt University Medical Center's and Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association's Accredited Provider Program Director, Primary Nurse Planner for a community hospital in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, is the co-founder of J&J ElevatED Consulting LLC, and co-hosts the Disruptor Diaries: Healthcare Education Innovation Unleashed podcast. She has been certified in nursing professional development (NPD) since 2015 and achieved her advanced NPD certification in 2023. She also serves as an Appraiser for ANCC's NCPD Accreditation Program, is a peer reviewer for the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development (JNPD), and is an engaged member of the Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD) and her local ANPD-Pentagon affiliate, and was a founding member of ANA-Ohio and is a recent graduate of their Policy Influencer Bootcamp. Jill is passionate about supporting the future of nursing through innovative and creative solutions that transform the work we do as nurses. LinkedIn Profile

Jennifer (Jenn) Bodine, DNP, FNP-C, NPDA-BC®, CEN
NPD Specialist with NPD Collaborative
Jenn Bodine is a contributing member of the NPD Collaborative. Jenn has over 19 years of experience in nursing and over 12 years of nursing education in various roles and settings. She has an advanced certification in Nursing Professional Development, a DNP from California State University, and is a Fuld Institute for Evidence-Based Practice DNP Postdoctoral Fellow. She also has a certificate in Artificial Intelligence: Business Strategies and Application from UC Berkley.

Rachel Kelter, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CPC
Nursing Professional Development Specialist
Rachel Kelter is a master’s prepared registered nurse with 16 years of healthcare, leadership, and education experience. She currently serves as a senior education project manager for Indiana University Health’s Center for Continuing Professional Development, a jointly accredited provider unit. Rachel is board-certified in nursing professional development and is a qualified personality lingo presenter. She is also an entrepreneur, certified professional coach, and co-host of the Disruptor Diaries podcast. Rachel is passionate about and recognized for her presentations and publications on human skills, personality styles, education design, and human design.
Website • LinkedIn Profile • IG @therachelkelter • JNPD Article

Supporting nurses is our priority. Visit https://nursing.uiowa.edu/ionrp to explore our resources for new graduate nurses and beyond.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Nurse Engagement and Belonging
• 8:44 Meeting the Disruptor Diaries Team
• 22:05 Defining Belonging vs. Fitting In
• 33:45 The Impact of Inclusion on Organizations
• 43:15 Language Matters: Words That Build Belonging
• 54:24 Technology, Trends and Future Challenges
• 1:07:37 Psychological Safety and Creating Community
• 1:15:32 Key Takeaways and Closing Thoughts

Transcript

00:00:01 Nicole Weathers

You're listening to the Beyond Nurse Residency Podcast, an educational series where we interview experts on all topics related to the transition of new graduate nurses into practice and beyond. I'm your host, Nicole Weathers, director of the Iowa Online Nurse Residency program. Thanks for joining us. Let's jump in.

00:00:25 Nicole Weathers

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of co-authoring an article with my colleague Hannah Hayes titled An Organizational Framework for Nurse Engagement. In it, we outlined several key components of nurse engagement, many of which we've explored right here on the podcast. That framework was born out of a deep reflection of our own nurse residency program.

00:00:46 Nicole Weathers

We asked ourselves, where are we meeting the needs of our new graduates and the organizations we partner with, and where are the gaps. One theme that rose to the top was the critical importance of belonging and inclusion. Nurses need to know that they matter, that their contributions are valued, and that they're genuinely cared for by their colleagues and leaders. They also mean meaningful connections across the organization.

00:01:16 Nicole Weathers

Whether that's friendships with peers or strong, supportive relationships with unit leadership. In today's episode, we're going to explore the impact of belonging and inclusion in nursing practice. We'll talk about these concepts, what they really mean, how they show up in nurse residency programs, and the barriers that can get in the way.

00:01:36 Nicole Weathers

Along with what leaders and nursing professional development practitioners can do to foster a more inclusive and connected culture.

00:01:44 Nicole Weathers

My goal for this episode is that you will walk away with practical strategies you can use to strengthen belonging and inclusion in your own organization, especially for your newest nurses. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome three incredible leaders who are truly disrupting the way we think about nursing professional development.

00:02:04 Nicole Weathers

And inclusive learning environments I have with me, Jen Bodine, Jillian Russell, Rachel Kelter, who are all part of a dynamic team behind the Disruptor Diaries podcast.

00:02:17 Nicole Weathers

You may have caught an episode of me as one of their guests earlier this year, but this is really an inspiring series that explores many different things when it comes to healthcare education. Through this work, they challenge the status quo and bring a fresh and actual ideas to the forefront of nursing practice.

00:02:38 Nicole Weathers

Why don't we start off by having each of you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit more about this team that you have together?

00:02:53 Jennifer Bodine

I am Jenn Bodine. I've been a nurse for 19 years, and I've been in professional development for 13 of those. I'm currently a director of learning and development, an AAPD, and an editor of the Preceptorship column for JNPD.

00:03:10 Jennifer Bodine

But more importantly, I think what aligns with this topic is that I'm a military spouse who has had to move probably about 16 times in the last 27 years, which means I've had to start over with an organization.

00:03:28 Jennifer Bodine

Over and over and over and over again. So I really it resonates with me, this sense of belonging that organizations helped to establish for their new hires.

00:03:40 Jennifer Bodine

And their seasoned nurses, who are within the organization, and that is one of the big things that I always noticed when I am brand new to somewhere.

00:03:48 Jennifer Bodine

Is the things that they do to make me feel included. So thanks for inviting me on to speak about this. I have a lot of opinions.

00:04:35 Jillian Russell

I'll go next. My name is Jillian Russell and I have been a nurse for 16 years and 13 of which have been rooted in nursing professional development. I am so passionate about this particular topic for a variety of reasons, some of them.

00:04:55 Jillian Russell

Relate to what Jenn had shared, but I'll kind of take it from the angle of diversity and practice setting in nursing professional development and having the opportunity to contribute to association level professional development initiatives to local community hospitals settings.

00:05:14 Jillian Russell

To large academic medical systems where I function as an accredited provider, program director currently for both a large academic medical center in that crosses state lines essentially and then serving as an accredited provider program director for a nursing association.

00:05:35 Jillian Russell

Currently, and it's fascinating to see how.

00:05:40 Jillian Russell

The sense of belonging and inclusion intertwines with organizational values, strategic vision and how that aligns with.

00:05:49 Jillian Russell

Me as a professional nurse within our code of ethics and how that continues to translate to anyone that supports the nursing care team.

00:07:26 Rachel Kelter

Hi, it's Rachel Kelter, and thanks for having us. We're so excited to be here.

00:07:31 Rachel Kelter

So a little bit about me. I have been a registered nurse for 14 years and 12 of those actually have been in nursing professional development. So I've spent most of my career in education space, but I'm very passionate about that and I serve in a few different roles. I serve as a senior education project manager.

00:07:51 Rachel Kelter

For a jointly accredited provider unit at a large healthcare organization, I'm a certified professional coach. I'm an evidence-based practice mentor. I wear lots of hats as we all do for sure. I am very passionate about these topics as a lot of my work, through various leadership roles throughout my career and NPD and even now as I mentor and coach several people.

00:08:17 Rachel Kelter

Is really just focusing on those human skills or interpersonal skills. But we know belonging and inclusivity are two of those human skills and hopefully we'll get to talk more about this a little bit later, but.

00:08:31 Rachel Kelter

We focus so much in healthcare and nursing specifically on those technical skills and clinical skills which are very important. But what I think we fail to realize still is maybe we realize this, but we don't implement it yet is prioritizing those human skills and what's great about belonging and inclusivity.

00:08:51 Rachel Kelter

And beyond that and the other human skills is that these are teachable and we can learn them. 

00:10:10 Nicole Weathers

That's just so interesting that you kind of bring that up as a as a point is that you can learn these things. They're not just things that you either have or you don't have, but yet there are so many people that aren't talking about it and aren't teaching about it. 

00:14:15 Nicole Weathers

So to kick things off. I think it would be important that we all make sure that we're on the same page. So when we talk about belonging, when we talk about inclusion, what do you really mean by that? How do you personally kind of define some of these concepts?

00:14:32 Rachel Kelter

I can start us off. I so I can't really talk about belonging and what it is without talking about what it's not and what it's not is. It's not fitting in or it's the opposite of that. I'm huge Brené Brown fan and with her research and her teams research.

00:14:51 Rachel Kelter

Even back when they were doing one of her books, The Gifts of Imperfection they were looking at.

00:14:57 Rachel Kelter

Where belonging and fitting in, where we tend to use those terms interchangeably and thinking with them as well. Thinking ohh. These are the same thing and they're actually not. And in fact fitting in becomes a barrier to belonging so.

00:15:13 Rachel Kelter

When we think about fitting in, fitting in is really we are coming into a situation assessing it and we're changing ourselves to fit in. Who's all a chameleon out there? Raise your hands. So I continue to have to practice this, especially if you can read a room. I feel like pretty well and it's easy to.

00:15:33 Rachel Kelter

Fit the mold, but even that phrase is fitting in. But belonging doesn't require us to change who we are, but it requires us to be who we are, and I think that's where really authenticity can come into play.

00:15:45 Rachel Kelter

So I'm just gonna read Brené Brown's definition because it's so great. So she says, “Belonging is the innate human desire to be part of something larger than us. True belonging only happens when we present our authentic and perfect selves to the world.” So that's what I want to add. I think it's so important to talk about both of those because we like to try to fit in quite a bit.

00:16:06 Rachel Kelter

And I think that's.

00:16:07 Rachel Kelter

Goes beyond just within our healthcare, but.

00:16:09 Rachel Kelter

You know, if we're a parent or, you know, teaching your kids or, you know, our spouses or our friends, any of that, all of all of those challenging situations can come into play on where we want to try to fit in versus actually belonging.

00:16:24 Jillian Russell

I don't know how we're supposed to follow up with Brené Brown’s definition.

00:16:29 Jennifer Bodine

But someday we'll be quoting our definition. It'll be fine. And Jillian Russell’s  definition of belonging is…

00:16:36 Jillian Russell

Good grief.

00:16:37 Jillian Russell

No, I the piece that that really resonates for me is being your authentic self and another caveat to that is I would define belonging as an emotional experience of feeling accepted in being my authentic true self and not feeling like I need to be someone I'm not.

00:17:03 Jennifer Bodine

Which is exhausting in itself. I just this last weekend, my nursing school friends and I, we've done a reunion every single year. We go somewhere to meet up and I made the comment that it's one of the few groups where I can go and be entirely myself. I don't have to think about what I'm going to say before I say it. They don't care what comes out of my mouth, they're not going to over analyze it. This is Jen. And good, bad, ugly. This is what Jen brings to the group. So it's that trust that you have, I think with other people that that you can be vulnerable, you can be silly, you can be whoever you are and you're not getting judged because what they're looking at is what you add to the group. And I think that diversity is really something that we need to embrace when we are trying to give a sense of belonging to others is the fact that we completely accept the diversity that we all are and all those differences that we have. You are not like me. So we have a phrase. We've been kind of banding around with the collaborative lately and it's, “Diversity of thought with a common mission.” So you can think as differently as you want as long as we're all focused on the same outcome. And I really I think that's probably leading into one of those things of an actionable strategy of how to start to establish that feeling of belonging within our organizations is going in with that mentality.

00:18:36 Jennifer Bodine

That thinking differently is actually great.

00:18:40 Nicole Weathers

I mean, all of those I think are great definitions. I mean, they all bring kind of a unique sort of lens to this. And as I'm thinking, again, I think a lot about new graduate nurses. I mean, how many of them do you think come into an organization and not try to fit in with the mold, right, like fit the mold or be the person that they want me to be.

00:19:03 Nicole Weathers

And So what a what a unique sort of way to think about that transition to practice experience with this lens of belonging and what that really means.

00:19:14 Jennifer Bodine

Well, with new nurses, I think we have a habit too, of and. And Rachel, I know I've read a LinkedIn post you recently did on calling them ‘baby nurses.’

00:19:23 Rachel Kelter

Oh yes, I would love to talk about that.

00:19:24 Jennifer Bodine

Totally disrespectful, right? That does not induce a feeling of belonging. What we need to be doing is.

00:19:33 Jennifer Bodine

Well first off, we have 50-year-olds who are coming in as these ‘baby nurses’, so why would you even say that they've got all these lived experiences, but so 21 year olds? So it's connecting and allowing them to share with you with those lived experiences are to find those commonalities and to help to instill that sense of belonging.

00:19:53 Jennifer Bodine

And giving them a voice in the beginning, right. It's not. Well, figure out how you can fit in here. It's. Let's start having dialogue and conversations so that you start feeling like you belong here.

00:20:05 Rachel Kelter

Yeah, that reminds me. I so I recently read an article.

00:20:08 Rachel Kelter

On they actually conducted A belongingness study and this was in the American Nurse Journal and.

00:20:15 Rachel Kelter

I believe it was just this past month or so, but they developed a belongingness scale for clinical placements. So these are still nursing students and.

00:20:26 Rachel Kelter

It was really interesting how they found some of the themes that came out with belonging and what belonging sounds like in each of those themes and what it and when belonging is lacking. What that sounds like. So, for example, one of.

00:20:40 Rachel Kelter

The things that came out was communication and so belonging may sound like I'm being greeted upon arrival. Lack of belonging is no one acknowledged I was even there. And I know we're talking about, you know, nursing clinical placements. But how many times could we?

00:20:56 Rachel Kelter

Recognize that same situation. Whether like Jen, you, you moving a bunch and going to a new organization. I don't know if you have examples on when were there times where you felt like and is anyone gonna acknowledge I'm here? I'm new. I'm here to support.

00:21:11 Rachel Kelter

Or not. And so I thought that was interesting. There's a lot more examples throughout that study that they shared some of those direct quotes about each of those themes. And one of them happened to be inclusivity, too. But belongingness study so, and it's an actual whole scale they developed. I thought that was really, really fascinating. And lots of on the literature.

00:21:30 Rachel Kelter

In clinical placements and in academia, not so much in practice.

00:21:36 Rachel Kelter

So I'm just going to put it out there. We have more work to do on the practice side for sure and I know Nicole, with your group working on that transition into the practice and then us a little bit more on the practice side, how can we replicate some of this because again, it's all human skills, all stuff that's important and skills that are important no matter where you're at and what role you're in.

00:21:57 Nicole Weathers

Well, I can imagine like being a new nurse coming to the unit for your first day of orientation and.

00:22:04 Nicole Weathers

Nobody acts like they knew you were going to be there or who they're going to put you with or, you know, whatever that situation might be. So as we talk about belonging, so I guess we kind of talk about belonging. We talk about inclusion. Are those the same thing? Are they different? Do you define them differently? Let's talk more about that.

00:22:23 Jillian Russell

No, they are not the same. I think a lot of times we may.

00:22:30 Jillian Russell

The collective ‘we’ may use these terms interchangeably, but it is very important to recognize that inclusion and belonging are two very different things. I earlier mentioned that my definition is more about the emotional experience of feeling accepted and being my authentic self. I would.

00:22:50 Jillian Russell

Pose that the definition of inclusion is more about the intentional actions and systems that ensure all voices, all individuals are welcomed respected and empowered, especially those who might be from historically marginalized or underrepresented groups. So it's not just about.

00:23:11 Rachel Kelter

Being and putting this in air quotes listeners being kind, it's really about justice and Jill, you said something about being intentional and I think one of my favorite books on inclusion, if you can't tell, I like resources. So I'm going to share a lot of those.

00:23:25 Rachel Kelter

But it's called, “Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work”. I'm like, what a perfect title for a book but Ruchika T. Malhotra wrote it, and she talks about inclusion requires awareness, a growth mindset, and intentionality. So I think that aligns exactly what you were saying, Jillian.

00:23:47 Rachel Kelter

This intention behind the actions with and to create that inclusive environment.

00:23:54 Nicole Weathers

So we've gotten into this a little bit already, but maybe we could give a few more examples of how you can tell when belonging or inclusion are present and how you can tell when maybe they're not.

00:24:08 Nicole Weathers

So just so that our listeners kind of you know have a better visual of what we're talking about.

00:24:14 Jillian Russell

I'm sure that we've all experienced this to some degree. As far as I'll, I'll give an example about belonging and I think one of the underlying needs for or prerequisites rather for belonging to.

00:24:31 Jillian Russell

Occur on a team, for example, is having a culture or an environment of psychological safety being established, present, cultivated, and this is just an example that I can draw upon from my own history is if.

00:24:48 Jillian Russell

There was a time that I have been on a team where there was a significant lack of psychological safety and this is evident through feeling.

00:24:59 Jillian Russell

That you are not.

00:25:02 Jillian Russell

Able to speak up in team meetings or those awkward silences during team meetings when it's a question posed to the group about what are your thoughts to do XY or Z, or any questions from the group when you may have thousands of questions but you don't feel safe to ask those in the presence of you know, whomever is a part of.

00:25:20 Jillian Russell

Group.

00:25:22 Jillian Russell

So you know.

00:25:22 Jillian Russell

That that for me is something that's truly linked to psychological safety and feeling like.

00:25:29 Jillian Russell

Who we are missing the boat here to create that environment for individuals to feel safe to speak up, to share their ideas. Also seeing high turnover of team members. That's another.

00:25:41 Jillian Russell

red flag or factor that could be a sign of a sense of belonging or inclusion, and not being a part of the current picture.

00:25:52 Jennifer Bodine

I think mine is way basic. I'm not even. It's like basic kindergarten stuff and I know that everybody's experienced this to some degree.

00:26:01 Jennifer Bodine

And I experienced it over and over again because like I said, I am constantly having to move. And it's when you're going somewhere new and let's just say it's the, the, you know, ER, it's the group that's standing in a circle chatting and laughing with each other. And then you being outside of that circle.

00:26:19 Jennifer Bodine

There is not a more devastating feeling than being outside that circle, to the point where another actionable strategy I'll talk about is if you are in that circle because you've got this established team right, you know each other. You know your strengths, your weaknesses. You've gone through all these experiences together.

00:26:40 Jennifer Bodine

You've got somebody new and you notice somebody's standing outside your circle. You decide if you want to maintain that circle, and they got to earn their way in, or if you are going to pull them.

00:26:52 Jennifer Bodine

in and make them feel part of that because I can't tell you. And this happens also in my personal life, when I'm moving to new like spouse groups and something like that. How just devastating that feels it and I'm a huge introvert.

00:27:05 Jennifer Bodine

So I'm not someone who's going to elbow my way into the circle and be like, hey, listen to me. I'm going to wait for an invitation and we don't extend enough invitations.

00:27:15 Jennifer Bodine

You don't have to earn your way here.

00:27:18 Jennifer Bodine

We are welcoming you and I that's such an important part of that feeling of acceptance from the very beginning. And I think it's a mentality nurses have had is you have to earn your way.

00:27:31 Jennifer Bodine

And I think that's really hard for new nurses to have to earn your way in. I think a sense of belonging should start on day one. Welcome. We are so glad you're here. We can't wait to get to know you better. Let me tell you a little bit about this place and what's so great of it. 

00:27:49 Jennifer Bodine

So those are just some things to think about when you're standing, when you're lucky enough to be standing in that circle is to make sure you're extending that invitation in.

00:28:00 Nicole Weathers

When we think about, you know, socialization of new graduate nurses into the team, into the organization, I mean, that's a huge part of that, right?

00:28:10 Nicole Weathers

As really being intentional about introducing them to people, connecting them with people, welcoming them, it definitely is like a two way street there.

00:28:20 Nicole Weathers

So that's a great visual, though I think whether we're talking about the physical circle in the ER or the metaphorical circle of just, you know, being a part of this network. So I appreciate that. Thank you.

00:28:33 Rachel Kelter

I love that both explanations we need from Jillian saying that we need this environment, we're creating this environment of psychological safety. And then Jen from your perspective.

00:28:42 Rachel Kelter

On I think belong and inclusivity can feel like really big words and big things, but those little things that we can do such as introducing somebody where I think we may take advantage of that like, Oh yeah, that's just something that we do or don't do. But introducing somebody using their actually using their preferred name and some of the examples too in the study, but that I've lived through too. And in my own personal experience.

00:29:12 Rachel Kelter

I know as people we are hardwired for connection.

00:29:16 Rachel Kelter

And in order to build those relationships and connections as part of just being just having this human experience is we have to have that sense of belonging and feel included and that's going to just amplify those relationships and connections that you know.

00:29:36 Rachel Kelter

Will give people that sense of purpose that they need. And you know, if we think about benefits from an organizational level, that could be your attention. But if you think even just from the individual, just that that sense of purpose and OK, I have a reason to, you know, get up and come to work every single day, even when it's really, really hard.

00:29:55 Nicole Weathers

And I mean, to me, it also screams like value, right that like I am valued enough by the organization.

00:30:05 Nicole Weathers

And if I if I'm not included in.

00:30:09 Nicole Weathers

Activities. If I'm not you know, acknowledged when I'm walking into rooms, things like that, then I must not have value at the organization. And I mean, to me, that's a giant red flag for probably many to start looking elsewhere. And so when we think about, you know, retention, and we think about turnover, I mean it's so easy to see why this idea of inclusion and belonging are going to be key factors, I think.

00:30:40 Jennifer Bodine

Well, and I think we need to be careful with how we phrase things too, and I'm glad you said something about value Nicole, because.

00:30:48 Jennifer Bodine

A common phrase we use is you need to demonstrate your worth or you need.

00:30:52 Jennifer Bodine

To demonstrate your value.

00:30:54 Jennifer Bodine

You come in with worth and value regardless. You need to demonstrate the value of your work, but you do not need to demonstrate your value. You are valuable as a human being regardless, and I think we say that a lot and it has really in the last probably five years started to just really grate on me when we're like, demonstrate your worth.

00:31:14 Jennifer Bodine

Demonstrate your value.

00:31:16 Nicole Weathers

Especially in nursing, right? That's been that's been a hot topic lately.

00:31:17

Yes.

00:31:21 Jennifer Bodine

It's like that is not what is meant by your return on investment. OK, so I, words matter.

00:31:28 Nicole Weathers

Sure.

00:31:30 Jennifer Bodine

And we're not careful enough with our words, and you can't take words back. They linger. I can state verbatim things that have been said to me that have just rubbed me the wrong way from day one, 19 years ago till now because they live in you. And sometimes if you let them, they define you. So I would say another.

00:31:50 Jennifer Bodine

Actionable strategy is to remember that if you are one of the more seasoned, experienced nurses who are welcoming in new nurses is be judicious and careful with your words.

00:32:04 Jennifer Bodine

Because that is the start of someone's career and you don't want them thinking about you 20 years from in a bad way of how you've set the tone for that. So again, you know, a lot of people will justify it by this is just the way I am. Take me as I am or leave it. And it's like, no, because you impact other people.

00:32:25 Jennifer Bodine

So you don't have to say everything that's going on in your head and there's a nice way to say whatever is going on in your head, but that also can help to instill, I think a sense of belonging.

00:32:33 Jennifer Bodine

Is when we're very careful with how we phrase things.

00:32:36 Rachel Kelter

I think language matters. I don't think it does matter. Language does matter. And Jen had mentioned a post I put on LinkedIn about nurses being called ‘baby nurses’ and it actually was quite controversial, which I kind of anticipated it might be. But what I found.

00:32:56 Rachel Kelter

Some of the challenging comments and wanted to be open to am I thinking about this?

00:33:05 Rachel Kelter

I don't say wrong, but is there a different way to think about this and I'll tell you the some of the comments that were on that post were about another. Oh, here's another nurse getting her feelings hurt about with words. Or we're trained enough not to be hurt over words. And these are all coming from physicians.

00:33:25 Rachel Kelter

And I thought that was really interesting, especially some of the comments on, well, I was called this. So I can do that and it's like hurt people, hurt people. And when I reflected on that post and some of those comments.

00:33:38 Rachel Kelter

It's it. It just really got me to think about how much language has an impact and whether, you know, using a term ‘baby nurse’ may not seem like the biggest issue that we have facing us today in healthcare. But that little moment of impact that.

00:33:58 Rachel Kelter

And they seem little to you, can have a huge implication like you are saying, Jen, 19 years later on somebody. And so it's just thinking about how can we say something differently.

00:34:09 Rachel Kelter

And still, you know be able to, you know, identify these nurses specifically as novice or newer coming into the organization without using or infantilizing babies. So that was just a little bit about that. But it was just interesting with the language piece and and.

00:34:29 Rachel Kelter

Impact that words and language can have on us.

00:34:32 Jillian Russell

I think that's really a good example of a term that we've not yet mentioned, but microaggressions and how a culture of accountability around microaggressions and those behaviors that is so important in today’s

00:34:48 Jillian Russell

current practice setting, but yet our organizations being an intention, are they being intentional to address or create that culture of accountability to prevent or have a process in place to address that behavior?

00:35:02 Jillian Russell

That topic in and of itself is, is so incredibly important to dissect. I don't know Jen or Rachel. If you want to add anything else about Microaggressions, specifically.

00:35:13 Rachel Kelter

I add being an ally and you know if the organization is maybe does not have something in place, but again.

00:35:23 Rachel Kelter

How do you start with yourself and being the ally who's stepping in and stopping that conversation? That is definitely an area that I continue to practice and want to continue to practice in, and I think it goes back to leaning into hard conversations, which we all of us as people.

00:35:42 Rachel Kelter

Shy away from because they’re uncomfortable, but I think leaning into and promoting difficult conversations will build that connection and that belonging and then that inclusivity.

00:35:57 Jennifer Bodine

I think too these comments you talked about that you have people what they commented on your post, Rachel, because I'm going to be very vulnerable here.

00:36:06 Jennifer Bodine

I have likely been passive aggressive. I have likely bullied somebody. I have likely.

00:36:13 Jennifer Bodine

Been unkind. I have likely been a lot of all the negative things I hate about people now, and it's called reflection and growing as a person. That's, that's what adults do. So if you're saying, well, this happened to me or this is and you're not.

00:36:25 Rachel Kelter

And accountability.

00:36:29 Jennifer Bodine

Growing as a person, I think that's more concerning of the person who made the comment than your post itself.

00:36:37 Jennifer Bodine

And I think just that recognition of yourself and the ability to be able to, I'm very proud of where I've, how I've changed. I'm very proud of how I can articulate what I'm thinking now without offending somebody 90% of the time, there's still room for growth, so.

00:36:54 Jennifer Bodine

That that needs to be a reminder of we are always growing and you need to make that space for people because I think that also is part of that whole inclusion and belonging piece is you are not always going to get.

00:37:09 Jennifer Bodine

The finished product, we're all pieces of clay and we're all being molded and it may not be pretty at first, but I mean, I have seen myself included, but I've seen so many people come from just this blob of clay to this beautiful, immaculate piece of nursing, if you will. And I think we don't give ourselves.

00:37:30 Jennifer Bodine

Opportunities or others opportunities if we don't make that space for them.

00:37:33 Jennifer Bodine

To be able to grow.

00:37:36 Jennifer Bodine

And to become something better.

00:37:38 Nicole Weathers

Definitely not perfect. Always a work in progress, but like you said, it's that idea of awareness around it and knowing that I'm not going to get it right 100% of the time, but I can definitely continue to work towards that for sure. So we hit a little bit already around impact, the impact when belonging and inclusion maybe are absent, but what are some of the? What's some of the broader impact on you know the nurse, the team, the organization when we bring and cultivate an environment where belonging and inclusion are present.

00:38:18 Jennifer Bodine

I think you can tell right away a culture and by the well-being within that culture of the team dynamics within that culture, you can sense that cohesiveness and that all comes. I think as part of that belonging. And you can tell when there's not a culture of that.

00:38:36 Jennifer Bodine

You have nurses standing in corners, bad mouthing other nurses, bad mouthing the administration instead of productive conversations because our organizations aren't perfect. But instead of those productive conversations of, you know, maybe if we tried this, this would do this. This isn't perfect.

00:38:53 Jennifer Bodine

But we could, you know, progress this way and it's just always negative.

00:38:58 Jennifer Bodine

But when you bring, I think that sense of inclusion and belonging, I think you start to come up with solutions and you start working the problems versus just complaining about the problems. That's just been one of the things that I've noticed with different dynamics within organizations.

00:39:15 Jillian Russell

I would add on the individual level, you sense that psychologically safe environment, which allows you as an.

00:39:24 Jillian Russell

Individual to speak up.

00:39:26 Jillian Russell

You are going to ask questions. You are going to admit your mistakes and you will be more apt to advocate for your patients, which are all so important factors to promote that culture of safety and prevent harm and promote that high quality care. And I mean truly, just by way of.

00:39:46 Jillian Russell

That description you can see how that domino effect impacts the team environment as well, so.

00:39:54 Jillian Russell

It it's those points of impact are so broad from the sense of it starts with the individual, it impacts the team, it impacts the entire organization and you can see that cascade in so many different ways to impact.

00:40:07 Jillian Russell

You know, all of those groups. The other thing I would hope that you would see from a team and organizational level is decreased turnover.

00:40:18 Jillian Russell

And you know, yes, that you can see and be a part of that team cohesiveness. But at the end of the day, what does that look like in terms of retention and turnover for that particular unit or organization? That is definitely something that within the literature you would you would see being impacted.

00:40:39 Jillian Russell

From a positive standpoint, if you have a culture of belonging and inclusion, you would expect to have lower turnover, increased retention rates.

00:40:48 Jennifer Bodine

And better patient satisfaction rates, yes.

00:40:51 Nicole Weathers

And better patient outcomes, right? I mean, I think to talk about research articles that need to be done is what's the impact belonging and inclusion on patient outcomes. I mean, I think all of those things you described from team communication to speaking up when we have questions to admitting, when we've made mistakes.

00:41:08 Nicole Weathers

I mean that all screams patient safety, right and patient outcomes.

00:41:13 Rachel Kelter

So I was thinking about from an individual benefit too is personal agency and I came across this pyramid and it reminds me of, like Maslow's hierarchy, which I feel like that's been a foundation for lots of

00:41:27 Rachel Kelter

models and frameworks to come out, especially since COVID, but one of the things on there we talked a lot about empowerment and then the top one is really this agentic mindset or this agency mindset and having the skills and resources you need or you can find to feel motivated to apply those.

00:41:48 Rachel Kelter

And when we look at benefits.

00:41:52 Rachel Kelter

And looking from kind of all of those levels from you know, micro to, to mezzo, it's thinking about how do you and macro, how do you think about what can I do today, right? And I know we talk a lot about actual strategies and we love practicality, but even having that personal sense of agency that is such a benefit because then you can continue.

00:42:13 Rachel Kelter

Forth and with resilience. I think too, which I know can sometimes be a conflicting word within, especially within the nursing community, but.

00:42:21 Rachel Kelter

But it truly does bring that and I like the word agency that's just been part of some of my recent just learnings and reflection on, you know, what does agency mean to me? And how can I enact in some of those and then bring forth you know we talked a little bit earlier about like allyship and how do you step in and speak.

00:42:41 Rachel Kelter

Up and I think that brings.

00:42:44 Rachel Kelter

That ripple effect that we'll see that will have those bigger impacts from the team environment into the organizational environment into the you know hopefully global environment.

00:42:55 Nicole Weathers

And I think in that article that I wrote, you know, we talked about belonging.

00:43:01 Nicole Weathers

Inclusion accepted.

00:43:04 Nicole Weathers

Being recognized for the value that we do bring as an inherent human, and I think that and I guess I use more of the term of esteem, right. But then also that belief in myself. So not only do I feel do I feel valued from my peers and my organization, but do I do I have?

00:43:24 Nicole Weathers

That same value for myself, and it sounds like maybe we're kind of talking about similar

00:43:29 Nicole Weathers

things with this and I know we bring up that term resilience and I know that that has some, you know negative connotations. But I mean it really is sort of an important piece I think of the puzzle as well because we have and it's always a fine line. I think when you're talking about it because.

00:43:50 Nicole Weathers

You know we. Yes, it's the environment that I'm in in this in this instance, we're talking about the organization, but it's also what's inside of me, right. And what I bring to the table and how I view myself and how I show up so.

00:44:06 Nicole Weathers

You know, one of the things and I think about this a lot when it comes to, you know, nurse residency and retention and where this whole idea of this organizational framework came into play that I write about in the article. But when we talk about retention, it's like everybody thinks that it's what happens in the nurse residency classroom.

00:44:26 Nicole Weathers

That's going to like be the magic bullet solution that keeps people in their positions, and the whole point of everything that I've written about related to this is the fact that.

00:44:37 Nicole Weathers

What happens in the classroom is most definitely important. We need to give them the competencies and the tools they need. But all of these other things that we've talked about today, when it comes to belonging and inclusion and even that agency that you talked about, Rachel.

00:44:51 Nicole Weathers

That's not happening in the classroom, right? That's every other interaction that we're having at the organization.

00:44:57 Jennifer Bodine

I think that you make a really good point there. It starts in the classroom, right? But one of the things we have an issue with in Healthcare is we make a lot of starts and the sustainability piece is where we have issues and it really is the things you do to sustain throughout that nurses career, that feeling of belonging they have.

00:45:18 Jennifer Bodine

I'm also glad that you brought up resilience because again, it's become kind of like the cuss word in healthcare, right?

00:45:24 Nicole Weathers

Yeah.

00:45:25 Jennifer Bodine

And I think there's a difference between your organization looking at you and saying you need to be more resilient with all the bad things that are happening here and you telling yourself.

00:45:36 Jennifer Bodine

I need to be more resilient with how I react to these things. Those are two very different conversations and unfortunately, I think we've become very focused on what the organization is telling us instead of us looking at. I write my own story. You don't write it for me. This is how I'm going to act. This is how I'm going to proceed. So I really love that you brought that up because I've been struggling with that.

00:45:58 Jennifer Bodine

Word for Jill will tell you years. I'll bring it up on any podcast we're on, but I think that that the is the difference. And I think we need to take that word back.

00:46:09 Jennifer Bodine

And we need to let it mean what it was originally supposed to mean, how you internalize it, how you react to things. But it's personal and stop telling me that's how I need to be.

00:46:20 Nicole Weathers

For nursing and then healthcare like there's a lot. I mean it's a lot, it is a lot, there is a lot happening and we can't control.

00:46:30 Nicole Weathers

That but we can control how we react in these situations, right? And how we respond in these situations. And I don't. I don't ever think that an individual's resilience.

00:46:42 Nicole Weathers

Is the problem. It's part of coping in an imperfect system, right? We need those skills to be able to do that.

00:46:50 Rachel Kelter

And I think having the agency then to recognize you have a lot more control than you think you do with yourself. And if an organization is not.

00:46:59 Rachel Kelter

A fit and it's not a healthy work environment. You have that agency to.

00:47:04 Rachel Kelter

To to consider OK, is there something else out there? And I say that cautiously, not meaning. Ohh, you could just go anywhere because I recognize the challenges of leaving an organization, especially if you have been there for a while and having to have a job right to support your family. But.

00:47:23 Rachel Kelter

Sometimes I think we get in this mindset of victimness a little bit in people, but definitely in in nursing and healthcare where it's like, well, I'm just going to be stuck. So I'm going to be, you know, I'm going to just stay here and be furious and fume and have resentment and OK, how do we then take some of that learning agency and move forward. Or if we don't have an opportunity to you know, maybe have that environment where it's psychologically safe or we can speak up and provide solutions or even talk about the problems that are that are happening.

00:47:57 Nicole Weathers

We've talked about what it is, why it matters, what are some common barriers or blind spots that nurse leaders and NPD practitioners face when trying to build belonging and inclusion.

00:48:13 Jillian Russell

I think one barrier or blind spot is not having a firm understanding of the terminology and really what? What strategies can you take that are meaningful, tangible and not just big picture, vision casting, type of perspectives.

00:48:34 Jillian Russell

And you know, just to kind of sum up one particular blind spot that comes to mind is if you confuse.

00:48:43 Jillian Russell

Niceness with inclusion like. Oh, I'm nice. I'm kind, but I'm inclusive and again, terminology wise they are. Those are not the same thing. So having a firm understanding of the concepts, the terms, what, what does this really mean? And do you have the right resources?

00:49:03 Jillian Russell

Structures in place to support this culture or this sense of belonging or intentionality around inclusion, there's so much more that goes into that. Rather than just slapping on another label of we're nice, we're welcoming. It's it goes deeper than that. And truly, at the end of the day, you can have a kind culture.

00:49:27 Jillian Russell

But you could most definitely still have nurses within that culture that don't feel safe or seen.

00:49:32 Jillian Russell

So how can you mitigate that? And I will also offer one other barrier or assumption in terms of my practice in nursing professional development is I never want to assume that a one size fits all education method or approach is going to work for everyone.

00:49:52 Jillian Russell

And this is really where a lot of my own individual practice and commitment to inclusive learning has taken shape over the last couple of years is having intentionality around the design for equity and access to ensure that these learners have an optimal learning experience.

00:50:12 Jillian Russell

So for those of us that practice in education and support nurses, whether they are new grads or are experienced nurses, they are leaders. Are we truly taking an approach that is accessible, equitable for all.

00:50:30 Jennifer Bodine

And I'll tag on to Jill. I think one of the barriers is we think of belonging, inclusion and whatnot is something that kind of goes on in the background and it really needs to be a strategic priority. It needs to be part of your strategic plan and your operational plan, because once you get those feelings, everything else that you want to be able to achieve in that organization.

00:50:53 Jennifer Bodine

Becomes a lot easier and achievable when you have your team cohesively working together and respecting and valuing each other. Everything else is just, you know, the pay off, so it really needs to be.

00:51:09 Jennifer Bodine

Part of your strategic framework and acculturated into your organization.

00:51:16 Rachel Kelter

One additional thing I would add is I think we prioritize efficiency over inclusion. And so what I mean by that is we are often in such a rush to make a decision that we only maybe pull voices, opinions,

00:51:30 Rachel Kelter

thought leaders of people we know, and maybe in our inner circle versus the voices of those different from us and maybe in circles that we aren't in, and I think timing plays a big factor into that is why so kind of the efficiency, it's like, OK, well, we just need to make a decision today and move forward. But do we? Like just questioning that like lets you know slow down a little bit. But I think the rushedness, if that’s a word!

00:51:56 Rachel Kelter

Is could definitely be a barrier, and I don't think we always see that like, speaking of blind spots as.

00:52:05 Rachel Kelter

You know, efficiency is a great thing, right? Maybe not, depending on, you know, what is? What's the decision we need to make and who?

00:52:12 Rachel Kelter

Isn't impacting too.

00:52:14 Nicole Weathers

So that's something I haven't really ever considered, but a really great I think point. You know when you think about within the organization, certain projects on a larger scale.

00:52:26 Nicole Weathers

It is like proximity. A lot of times, like who is closest to this and that is who we're going to probably include in.

00:52:34 Nicole Weathers

Whatever it might be. So that's really great. I think food for thought, especially as we think about some of our processes when it comes to onboarding and orientation and nurse residency for sure. Any specific behaviors or practices you see making a big difference.

00:52:53 Jennifer Bodine

I think professional governance, I think letting those new nurses have a say from the very get go and getting them on those committees.

00:53:02 Jennifer Bodine

To have that voice again, they may not have been nursing for very long, but they do have lived experiences in which they can lend, you know, some insight. I think mentorship is very big as far as allowing people to have a voice. Those are two things I can think of right off the top of my head.

00:53:22 Jillian Russell

I don't know if I would label this as a behavior per se, but normalization of vulnerability and reflection is something that I just I I'm a little speechless because it's like if only everyone could do that, how? How successful we could all be.

00:53:39 Jillian Russell

And that just ties into that fundamental nature of human skills and if they're missed, we're missing the boat to provide a really great platform to be successful.

00:53:52 Jennifer Bodine

Well, that needs to be role modeled too, Jill, right? Like we talk about vulnerability, but we want other people to be vulnerable.

00:53:59 Rachel Kelter

Not me, you.

00:54:02 Jennifer Bodine

I'm going to keep it all stuffed inside.

00:54:04 Jennifer Bodine

Where it belongs, but you feel free to cry. Umm you need to you need to be able to role model what that looks like so that people do feel safe around you and they know that you're actually walking the walk because it's one thing to say it and it's another thing to do it. So I think that's really important too.

00:54:24 Nicole Weathers

I would venture to guess that's a really hard thing.

00:54:27 Nicole Weathers

For leaders to do, and I think that that is something that as a leader myself, I'm trying to be better at with my team, when I'm talking about, things like, you know.

00:54:40 Nicole Weathers

Well-being and work life balance and some of the things that can just sort of begin to like filter in and chip away at you, talking about those things with your team gives them permission to also have some awareness around that which I think can have a lot of impact. So that vulnerability piece as hard as it is.

00:55:00 Nicole Weathers

Especially for leaders and NPD's who are maybe listening to this, that can sometimes I think be such a game changer for the teams that you lead.

00:55:09 Rachel Kelter

And we know from the literature that.

00:55:13 Rachel Kelter

Vulnerability creates belonging and connection and vulnerability does not mean trans like transparent about everything. I'm just going to share my life story like that. That is not it, but being intentional about.

00:55:27 Rachel Kelter

Showing your, I think it's back to authenticity. We talked about the very beginning, it's kind of coming full circle is.

00:55:33 Rachel Kelter

Being able to be who you are and recognizing you know where you have strengths and where you fall short and saying, hey, I'm I messed up and that builds trust too, right? Coming back and apologizing and that repair I like to share that because sometimes I think we think ohh I'm a leader I just need to like.

00:55:53 Rachel Kelter

Tell my team like everything's horrible and we're, you know, we're going down with the ship and this is bad. And this is no.

00:56:00 Rachel Kelter

But it's not all that toxic positivity too.

00:56:04 Rachel Kelter

Ohh, everything's fine. No worries. But how do you find that kind of middle ground of

00:56:09 Rachel Kelter

This is challenging with recognizing that I'm feeling this way and opening the conversation. How are you feeling? And let's talk about it and we might not have a solution today, but opening up that conversation and that door to then lean into those harder conversations, which is what I was going to say is.

00:56:27 Rachel Kelter

I want to say I've seen an organization getting this right, yet I think we're headed there and there's pockets. But when we can actually have like teams, that's what I mean by pockets.

00:56:37 Rachel Kelter

When we can actually have those hard conversations and.

00:56:43 Rachel Kelter

And by that I mean.

00:56:45 Rachel Kelter

Saying I messed up recognizing that or even sharing. Hey this.

00:56:52 Rachel Kelter

Had an impact. What you said had this impact on me, I know that probably wasn't your intention, but the impact was.

00:57:00 Rachel Kelter

This is XYZ. This is what happened. So being able to have that and we don't have those, we didn't learn what those skills. So you know we have to practice that and it's probably always going to be uncomfortable. What you really like to have conflicting hard conversations is probably going to become uncomfortable for most of us. But the more we practice, the more.

00:57:21 Rachel Kelter

“Normal” it will be like you're saying, Jillian, would normalize that.

00:57:26 Jennifer Bodine

Story telling is a really big part of that too, Rachel. It's not just this is now where I'm admitting I just messed up. It's hey, I've been where you are and these are some of the things.

00:57:40 Jennifer Bodine

And I mentioned some of the things that I've done in the past earlier in the podcast, like being able to admit those things and saying I've been where you are. This is how I've like Rachel said, this is how I felt about it. Tell me how you're feeling about it. But it lets them know, you know, you weren't born the experienced nurse they see.

00:57:59 Jennifer Bodine

Standing in front of them, you also have.

00:58:02 Jennifer Bodine

This legacy that you've left behind of, you know, littered with the mistakes and you know wins like all of that is what makes you what you are today. So you just have to make that acceptable and it makes you more relatable when you don't.

00:58:15 Jennifer Bodine

Try.

00:58:16 Jennifer Bodine

To.

00:58:16 Jennifer Bodine

Show yourself as being perfect and I think that's one of the biggest mistake leaders.

00:58:21 Jennifer Bodine

And NPD practitioners make is we think we have to be the ideal that they role model after and that's just not the.

00:58:31 Jennifer Bodine

Case.

00:58:32 Nicole Weathers

So looking ahead, any trends or challenges that you see emerging around this topic of belonging and inclusion?

00:58:42 Jillian Russell

There's so many.

00:58:43 Rachel Kelter

Where do we start? AI. That's where I want to start.

00:58:46 Jillian Russell

Yeah, like technology and AI is definitely one of those that that come to mind. Rachel for me too.

00:58:54 Rachel Kelter

Yeah, I think with AI.

00:58:57 Rachel Kelter

I don't even know the spin to take on it, but just let me I think where I want to go, where I would go with it right now because this is so complex and it's changing every day, right? But it's that sense of community and we know that goes hand in hand with belonging and where technology is great and.

00:59:16 Rachel Kelter

A great, I would say, supplement and.

00:59:20 Rachel Kelter

Yeah, I would say supplement, I guess, but always keeping a human in the loop is what I keep hearing. And I love that phrase is like keep a human in the loop for all of this.

00:59:28 Rachel Kelter

And.

00:59:30 Rachel Kelter

I think that's important to remember, especially when we have, I guess, from an education lens.

00:59:37 Rachel Kelter

Offerings online, educational activities online and virtual, and we're using the support of technology and AI. But back to what you were saying, Nicole is.

00:59:46 Rachel Kelter

A little bit ago is, you know, once we get into that organization.

00:59:50 Rachel Kelter

And.

00:59:51 Rachel Kelter

You know, we're around people and we don't have, you know, we're just relying on technology. But we're having people and those, they call them human skills for a reason, right, because it's. It's what we do as people and not necessarily, you know, what AI can do at this point at least.

01:00:07 Jennifer Bodine

I think you make a really. I think AI can be.

01:00:09 Jennifer Bodine

Used for good, but I think.

01:00:11 Jennifer Bodine

Technology itself is, is, and especially as exponentially as it grows, can make us feel a sense of disconnect. And I think one of the trends of the future is to bring it to the past where we are actually letting and providing opportunities for people to get together and be human.

01:00:29 Jennifer Bodine

And not just be face in their EHR or face in their phone and just providing those opportunities, I think it's going to be or should be a trend that we are looking at to allow people to keep those connections and establish that sense of belonging.

01:00:48 Nicole Weathers

I think I just listened to something, read something that.

01:00:52 Nicole Weathers

It's like talking about technology and social media in particular, and how you know it was it was met to connect, to help with connection, right. But it in all actuality, it's leaving people more disconnected than ever because.

01:01:08 Jennifer Bodine

No one is as perfect as they are on their Instagram posts or their Facebook. We're not putting all well, some people put all their Facebook. You portray yourself as this perfect human being and then I'm sitting there like, oh, well, I feel even worse about myself because I'm not doing this, this, this and this. So it kind of backfired. And now we have to sit there and be like, OK behind those beautiful pictures, I will tell you I woke up this morning with my hair like this.

01:01:38 Jennifer Bodine

With some red eye and all this other stuff. And you know I'm a regular human being. And I think you need again. It comes into that vulnerability piece.

01:01:48 Nicole Weathers

I mean, and you talk about like inclusion and belonging and you know you see all these curated pictures of people at events or doing things that you weren't either maybe invited to the table or you don't belong to that specific group or whatever it might be. I mean, it just brings it that much more. I think in your face.

01:02:07 Nicole Weathers

That you're missing out on all of these different opportunities.

01:02:12 Jennifer Bodine

And Mel Robbins actually did. She's got that in her book. She one of her things is she's looking online and they decided to have a girls trip without her.

01:02:20 Jennifer Bodine

And I mean we've all been there like, what's wrong with me? Why didn't this happen? And again, it can make you feel excluded. So I think there's the balance of kind of how much stock you put into that and you being able to talk your way through.

01:02:36 Jennifer Bodine

Like she did.

01:02:37 Jennifer Bodine

Well, you know, I've been really busy every time they've asked me to do it, so maybe they just didn't want to try one more time and maybe it's not me.

01:02:43 Jennifer Bodine

Personally, that's tough talk to have with yourself when you're feeling like, why don't I have a Margarita right now?

01:02:49 Rachel Kelter

I'll add a positive thing with the technology, something I learned in a business class I was talking about, just like online content and creation and connecting with people is we are starting to see this shift of less curated content and more, more vulnerability because as we were just talking about that.

01:03:09 Rachel Kelter

That fosters that sense of belonging. Now that doesn't replace in person, connections or community, but I.

01:03:17 Rachel Kelter

I think we've recognized that we're starting to and we can read through like, oh, that feels very disingenuous or fake and or AI generated and created like I feel like I can really pick up on an AI post now like written posts. But even pictures that are coming out too, but that less.

01:03:36 Rachel Kelter

The more, I guess the more authentic and more vulnerable we can be.

01:03:41 Rachel Kelter

That I think that's a good thing that we're starting to recognize that as people like we're starting to crave that more because we're the most connected, disconnected generation right now are a group of people right now.

01:03:55 Nicole Weathers

They think they're definitely are great ways to leverage technology to.

01:04:00 Nicole Weathers

Build a sense of connection and belonging, and I think somebody was sharing that they've started sending like, I don't know if this was at ANPD.

01:04:10 Nicole Weathers

You know a short welcome video like the Preceptor records themselves welcoming, you know, the new nurse to the organization or the unit, and they send that out. So they've got that face. They've got that voice, that familiarity when their walking through the door. But, I mean, that would be a great way to feel like this sense of like belonging there at the organization. So there's definitely ways in which you can leverage technology.

01:04:31 Nicole Weathers

But I think it is one of those things that we just need to be aware of.

01:04:36 Nicole Weathers

Because as much good as it can do, it can do equal probably amount of harm at the same time.

01:04:42 Jillian Russell

I think another trend, Nicole, is the importance of prioritizing mental health, moral injury, and psychological safety as being really central to whatever your defined culture is within the organization.

01:04:58 Jillian Russell

And knowing and recognizing that different generations of nurses are expecting either trauma informed, identity affirming workplaces, and they will make a very quick decision to leave an organization. If those things do not exist to help contribute to that, that culture of psychological safety and support.

01:05:19 Jillian Russell

So how do you overcome that or what do you do to get to that place again? Those strategies can start small and have that cascading domino effect, but.

01:05:31 Jillian Russell

I think the call to action that I would really articulate around that is we have to start treating psychological safety as seriously as we are treating physical safety of our nurses and recognizing how integral that is to the success of every nurse that's practicing, whether they are new grad, experienced nurse leader, educator, you know, fill in the blank title contributor to the healthcare team. This is something that impacts us all.

01:06:03 Rachel Kelter

Have you all heard of psychological first aid? So at the organization I work, we are one of the I don't think it's very many healthcare organizations implementing that. I don't know a ton about it yet because we're still in kind of that earlier phases. But as you were saying that, Jillian, I think that is that approach of this.

01:06:23 Rachel Kelter

Psychological first aid of peer-to-peer support too. Where, hey, I recognize Nicole. Is everything OK today? This is, you know, you don't normally like.

01:06:35 Rachel Kelter

Lash out like that or, you know is, you know, is everything OK? I'm here if you need to talk. You know those kinds of conversations. And again normalizing that and practicing that. And it's just checking in on people, right. It really is. It's more than that. The psychological first date is but the basis of it is that support right there.

01:06:56 Rachel Kelter

In in practice, no matter where you're at, and at the point of care and with your patients, too.

01:07:00 Nicole Weathers

I mean, I keep like as you guys are talking, I know.

01:07:03 Nicole Weathers

I keep referencing this.

01:07:06 Nicole Weathers

Framework. But you know, we talk a lot about how all of these things are so intertwined, intertwined.

01:07:11 Nicole Weathers

So you know, physical safety, psychological safety, belonging is going to be very closely like related to that, right. If there's not physical safety, if there's not psychological safety, I'm not going to feel that this organization values me or that I belong here. And then, you know that next level of what I was calling esteem, you were calling agency.

01:07:32 Nicole Weathers

That internal ‘resilience.’

01:07:37 Nicole Weathers

All of those things like, really are interdependent on one another. And you really do need all of these things. I think being present in the workplace to really get that engaged and ultimately retained employee. And if any of those things I think are missing. That is where you're going to run into issues around all the issues that we face in healthcare right now, because I think so many times. These are the things that are missing. I mean that inclusivity is not there, belonging, psychological safety. Anyway. That was just a reflective moment as we're talking about all of these things. They keep coming up and really, I think playing on one another.

01:08:21 Rachel Kelter

Well, I think that's a great point, Nicole. And it and it brings me back to just thinking about nurse. Just thinking about nursing for a second and how the nursing practice.

01:08:34 Rachel Kelter

We can lead this work and we are leading this work. Even just having this conversation, but that, you know, the science and the art of nursing, but being able to lead that and see that these are intersecting these skills and it's more holistic approach. So I love that you reflected that because you're making me reflect on.

01:08:55 Rachel Kelter

Yeah, that's what we do as nurses and we can all do that as if you're not a nurse listening and it's in and your healthcare provider and in healthcare.

01:09:04 Rachel Kelter

We can all do that. We can, you know, right? That starting with ourselves and that self-awareness. But nursing practice is just something I've been thinking about and reflecting on lately. Like, you know, what is that? And for myself too, and where does that come in to play with both the science and the art.

01:09:21 Jennifer Bodine

We need to remember too, because I want to kind of wrap this back around to the collaborative that we have.

01:09:28 Jennifer Bodine

Most of us are remote workers in the collaborative, and what we've been talking about today is at organizations like it's a physical place. But I think we are getting more and more remote with the things that we're able to do and that adds a different dynamic into and hardship into that sense of belonging.

01:09:45 Jennifer Bodine

So if you're not feeling that sense of belonging where you're at due to that remoteness.

01:09:51 Jennifer Bodine

You can create it and that's exactly what we decided to do. We just weren't feeling that sense of community and it was getting a little lonely.

01:10:00 Jennifer Bodine

Not to have that support. So we reached out to people that we knew, love, valued and respected and decided to form a community of our own so that we could have that sense of belonging, even if you're not getting it because you're sitting by yourself most of the day, just really getting carpal tunnel.

01:10:20 Jennifer Bodine

You can create that for yourself with people around you that you love. So don't think that this is.

01:10:28 Jennifer Bodine

Something that needs to happen to you. It is also something that you can create.

01:10:32 Rachel Kelter

And takes intentionality.

01:10:35 Nicole Weathers

Absolutely. We have talked about so many great things today. We hit on, you know, belonging, inclusion, definitions around that. We talked about barriers, blind spots.

01:10:48 Nicole Weathers

Why this all matters and then where leadership and culture really can come into play. So before we go, I do have one quick question and I do ask.

01:10:58 Nicole Weathers

This.

01:10:59 Nicole Weathers

Every guest that's on the episode. But when it comes to supporting nurses and belonging and inclusion, what's one thing that you see, maybe, organizations doing that you think has made a significant difference and you wish more organizations would adopt?

01:11:18 Rachel Kelter

I think about a quote I learned recently. It's not new, but from Peter Drucker, it says,

01:11:24 Rachel Kelter

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” And then you can add lunch, dinner, snacks, all of that, and it makes me think about the organizations or even the people getting it right, so to speak, is the prioritizing these as skills that are just as important as those technical skills.

01:11:41 Rachel Kelter

And I know, we talked quite a bit about that, especially with psychological safety and that these are skills that can be learned. But prioritizing that and seeing that as part of well-being initiatives, I know that's also a big buzzword right now and hot topic.

01:12:02 Rachel Kelter

But well-being is beyond caring for, you know, if we think of just generic self-care, it's these skills too. And we know that these can make a difference when we put these at the forefront.

01:12:16 Jennifer Bodine

We recently had a town hall type of thing and that kind of really resonated with me because it was leadership giving, you know, sharing information and allowing that information to be questioned.

01:12:32 Jennifer Bodine

Which again gives people a voice and respecting that and you know leadership not being like why are you asking that that's not it's ohh.

01:12:39 Jennifer Bodine

OK, I get your.

01:12:40

Perspective.

01:12:41 Jennifer Bodine

So I think that that's really important to again giving people a forum to have that voice and to be able to ask questions. I think that's one thing that that has been well done.

01:12:52 Jillian Russell

I'll kind of riff off of what Rachel shared in terms of having prioritization around human skills, and I've seen organizations.

01:13:01 Jillian Russell

Be successful in prioritizing this for their new grads, but I would love to see that extend to all roles. So all preceptors, all leaders, all peers, interdisciplinary, you know the having a movement to ensure that that is some.

01:13:20 Jillian Russell

And that's integrated across disciplines, could really transform the way that teams function and individuals define their sense of belonging and inclusion and ultimately impact, you know, all of those things that we discussed earlier, patient outcomes, patient satisfaction, turnover, retention, all of those things.

01:13:40 Jillian Russell

Would then have an opportunity to be impacted positively as well.

01:13:45 Rachel Kelter

You know, Jillian, you give me. You're having giving me a reflection. And aha moment here is you these skills. Sometimes I think they're called leadership skills too in organizations I know in organizations I've worked, we see this a lot and sometimes focus on leaders like. OK well. And I love that it's recognized that leadership is a skill set.

01:14:05 Rachel Kelter

To be learned, right? It's not just, oh, you were a great clinician. You're going to be a great leader or great. And people like their skill sets to learn.

01:14:12 Rachel Kelter

That and a lot of the human skills we talked about today, I see a lot in education and training with leaders, but how do we scale that for everybody? So as you were saying that, Jillian, I'm like, oh, my goodness, yes.

01:14:28 Jennifer Bodine

But also that nurses are leaders from the get go.

01:14:32 Jennifer Bodine

We are informal readers that does not need to. They say leadership skills that does already apply to everybody. It's a mentality that we're saying it only belongs to this.

01:14:41 Jennifer Bodine

Group. It needs to be acknowledgement that nurses are always leaders.

01:14:47 Rachel Kelter

Yes, I love that.

01:14:49 Nicole Weathers

And I mean, I think that's something that I recognize for the last many years working with new grads. It's like we have all this attention focused on new grads.

01:14:57 Nicole Weathers

We have all this attention focused on leadership development, but what about everybody else in between that you know and we really are I think missing.

01:15:09 Nicole Weathers

Important opportunity there. Well, you guys, this has been a fantastic conversation. Thank you so much for being here with me today and sharing all these important insights and wisdom with our listeners.

01:15:23 Rachel Kelter

Thank you all.

01:15:25 Rachel Kelter

Thanks for having us.

01:15:29 Nicole Weathers

Wait before you go, I want to make sure you know all about our suite of resources you can use to support your new graduate nurses. This includes our Academy, a coaching program designed for organizations as they prepare for the implementation, and ongoing sustainability of a nurse residency program.

01:15:48 Nicole Weathers

Work one-on-one with residency program experts to make sure your organization is residency ready.

01:15:54 Nicole Weathers

Our clinician well-being course is an asynchronous online course that aims to enhance the well-being and resiliency of healthcare professionals, equipping them with the necessary psychological capital to navigate challenges inside and outside of work. Supporting nurses is another asynchronous online course for preceptors mentors and coaches to learn the skills they need to support any new hire.

01:16:18 Nicole Weathers

Both of these offerings can be used as a stand alone professional development opportunity or to augment any nurse residency program. And we can't forget about the program that started it all. The online Nurse residency program. This includes a comprehensive curriculum designed to support new graduate nurses, applying all the knowledge they learned in school.

01:16:38 Nicole Weathers

To their practice, we focus on professional skills, personal well-being competencies, and new graduate nurses even get the opportunity to create real change in their own organization.

01:16:50 Nicole Weathers

Offered completely online and in a blended format, this program is highly adaptable to all clinical practice settings. You can learn more about all of these programs and more of what we offer using the links in the show notes below.