Nurses need to be kinder to each other or patients will be negatively affected, warns Senior Nurse

Teams that face rudeness experience a 12% drop in diagnostic and procedural performance.

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) has launched the “Reminder to be Kinder” project which was designed to recognise the importance of civility on patient care. The “Reminder to be Kinder” project encourages nurses and allied healthcare professions to be kinder to each other in order to improve patient safety.

Launched to coincide with World Patient Safety Day, the project will see the introduction of a range of action cards which include reminders to celebrate colleagues’ achievements, thank someone for their work and do something to make life easier for a colleague.

Juliet Pearce, Deputy Director of Nursing at UHS, said; “The way we interact with each other can have a surprising effect on patient safety,” 

“People who witness rudeness show reduced performance and are 50% less likely to help others. If a patient was to see this happen, you could understand why they would feel anxious dealing with staff and have less trust in the organisation.”

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Source: Nursing Notes, 19 September 2019