After months of the pandemic, I planned a surprise with my leadership colleagues for all the employees in our hospital. We wanted to conjure up a little thank-you gift, and out came our "thank-you dispensers" – candy and good luck charms in a pill dispenser! For this purpose we have written a letter to the colleagues. Here you can read why we thank all our employees.
Dear care teams!
We want to review what has happened in the past few months. They were definitely draining for all of us.
A lot of new things came our way: a new disease paralyzed the whole world, hospitals were faced with new challenges, wards were merged, teams were reshuffled, many absences due to illness had to be compensated for…
All of this did something to us, physically or psychologically. We are humans who want to do our best for our patients every day – even if we can’t always do it.
We often work beyond our physical limits, but the psyche is hardly taken into account. It is good when a patient says a simple "thank you" or gives us a smile.
Only unfortunately, the laughter behind the masks has all but disappeared.
"Hard times also have their good sides, because they show you who you can rely on unconditionally."
(Rumi)
Stick together as a team
As a ward leader, it is our job to keep the team together – even in difficult situations. This is a big challenge. We take care of the roster and possible failures. We strive to act as role models and motivate our colleagues. Orders have to be placed; new hygiene guidelines have to be taught to the team and implemented, and much more… We try to do everyone justice – for example, with roster requests. We often take time off for this, simply to give something back to the team. Because the teams on the wards do a great job every day, keep our backs up – and show us that as ward managers we also have to take care of ourselves.
"A team is more than a collection of people. It is a process of give and take."
(Barbara Glacel)
"Thank you" is not enough
We can’t say "thank you" as often as you deserve it.
The management team says "thank you.
Numerous overtime hours, standing in when someone got sick, helping out on other wards – all these are things that cannot be taken for granted. But you were always on the spot. And despite everything you always have a smile on your lips.
We want to thank you with our "Thank You Dispensers".
A few gummy bears and a few lucky charms – they should put a smile on your face behind the masks and pay you our respect.
"Appreciation is one of the most beautiful forms of recognition."
(Ernst Ferstl)
Sascha, Markus, Andreas, Ibrahim, Diana, Markus, Jasmin, Michael, Heike, Kerstin, Ivana, Carina, Martina, Audrey, Claudia, Dea, Stephie