DECEMBER 1990. VOL. 52. NO 6 AORN JOURNAL

Practical Inno vations

Looking for a peer recognition award? Try a COW

he operating room is a stressful, highly T structured work environment that requires teamwork to provide quality patient care. This environment can easily cause frustration and fatigue. Over time, the accumulated effect can contribute to a high rate of staff turnover.

As clinical instructors, we are concerned about the cost of educating and orienting nurses to replace OR personnel. In the past, when managers rewarded employees for exceptional work, it was not very effective in increasing staff retention.

At the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, we believed that a peer recognition program would boost employee morale, which would increase job satisfaction, personnel retention, and ultimately enhance patient care.

Planning

he term peer recognition award is cumber- T some and not much fun. We decided to give the award a name with an acronym that would attract attention and could be represented by a tangible symbol. We toyed with several ideas:

PAW (pretty awesome worker), CAT (creative, attentive teammate), and PUP (pretty unbelievable person) before settling on COW (classy OR worker).

Next, we established the following guidelines for the award.

1. The award is presented once a month at the staff meeting.

2. The person receiving the award keeps it until the next staff meeting. That recipient then must pass on the award and tell why he or she selected the next award recipient.

3. The award must never go to the same person twice. 4. Employees eligible for the award are staff

nurses, surgical technologists, instrument techni- cians, nurse aides, and orderlies.

After establishing the guidelines, we went shopping. Our purchases included a small enameled cow figure, little fuzzy cow stickers, cow pot holders, and a cow greeting card. Altogether, we spent $21.

We wanted the small enameled cow figure to be handed on from recipient to recipient, so everyone could recognize the current COW. For

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Susan Puterbaugh, W, MBA, CNOR, is a nursing staff development instructor, OR, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. She earned her bachelor of science degree in nursing at Vanderbilt UniversiQ, Nashville, Tenn, and her master of business administration degree in health care at Loyola College, Baltimore.

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Barbara Anderson, RN, BS, CNOR, was a nursing staff development instructor, OR, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, when this article was written. She earned her diploma of nursing at Bvan Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, Lincoln, Neb, and her bachelor of science degree in health science at Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln

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Fig 1. The traveling COW award. The enamel cow figure is worn as a necklace.

Fig 2. The COW Roil of Honor. Poster lists all award winners.

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the traveling award, we attached the cow figure to a cord so it could be worn as a necklace (Fig 1). Each award recipient also receives a little fuzzy cow sticker to be worn on his or her employee badge as a permanent symbol of the honor. In addition, the recipient’s name is listed on the “COW Roll of Honor,” a poster that lists all award winners (Fig 2).

As we began to implement our plan, we tried to pique staff interest by publicizing the award without revealing all the details. We chose a cow greeting card as a logo for our advertising campaign.

We used this logo on posters displayed in the operating room the week before the staff meeting during which the first award would be presented. The first poster had the cow logo with question marks. Subsequent posters displayed the same logo with the captions “Are you a COW?” “COW coming soon,” and “COW details Thursday.” The logo also was used on the COW Roll of Honor poster. This poster has a permanent place on the OR bulletin board.

Presentation Day

e maintained secrecy about the meaning of COW, and by the day of the staff

meeting, interest was high. We sewed COW pot holders on colorful sweatshirts and wore them to the presentation. We also rang a large cowbell to herald the arrival of the program.

When we announced the award, we explained that its purpose was to recognize outstanding contributions to O R teamwork. The guidelines were displayed on an overhead projector and were posted on the OR bulletin board. By keeping the guidelines for receiving the award nonspecific, the coworkers maintained control over what charac- teristics warrant recognition.

We chose the first recipient of the award because she displayed the characteristics we look for when choosing a preceptor for new O R employees. She was surprised and felt complimented. During the month she held the title, she did endure some good-humored teasing. Although the acronym itself was the subject of comment, we believe the purpose of the award was achieved.

After six months, staff members received the award with enthusiasm. Some recipients even embellished the original award concept by presenting additional personal gifts to the new COW recipient. As we had hoped, the award is evolving and changing with new ideas and creative modifications from the staff.

Conclusion

nstead of using traditional techniques for I increasing staff morale, OR departments can implement innovative, fun, custom-designed peer recognition programs in almost any work setting. You must develop clear guidelines, create interest through publicity, and demonstrate enthusiasm to establish a successful peer recognition program. Once in place, however, the program practically runs itself-continually changing, developing, and engaging those honored by it.

SUSAN PUTERBAUGH, RN, MBA, CNOR BARBARA ANDERSON, RN, BS, CNOR

Professional nurses are invited to submit short manuscripts for the “Practical Innovations” column. Manuscripts should involve a practical way of solving problems that occur in the OR. Manuscripts or queries should be sent to the Editor, AORN Journal, 10170 E Mii-sii-sppi Ave, Denver, CO 80231. As with all manuscripts sent to the Journal, papers should not have been submitted simultaneously to any other publication.

Correction “Tricuspid Atresia: Surgical Treatment, Pediatric Nursing Care” in the September issue of the AORN Journal has an error. On page 573, the second full paragraph of column one should state that “Normal values are 2 mm to 6 mm Hg for mean right atrial pressure . . . and 10 mm to 16 mm Hg for mean pulmonary arterial pressure.” The Journal regrets the error.

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