The Courage Competency
To not give nurses a pay rise in this year, especially in the face of the brutality of CoVid-19 on their lives and mental health, is appalling. On the other hand countries like France have announced they will pay health workers a bonus of up to £1366 for treating Covid-19 patients. In a survey by the Royal College of Nursing, 73% of the 42000 nurses who responded said “higher pay would make them feel more valued”.
“Having a pay rise would make them feel valued”
A lot of my clients are aspiring nurse leaders working in the NHS and private sector and are facing Covid-19 head-on in the frontline. They are also predominantly from a BAME background. Although no longer on the frontline, I am a nurse and have been in the profession since 2000 and qualifying as a nurse in 2004.
I have been thinking deeply about the levels of courage displayed by the nursing workforce during this pandemic.
The NHS introduced the 6C values - Care, Compassion, Competence, Communication, Courage and Commitment in 2012 to underpin compassion in nursing practice. In all its leadership development programmes, the NHS leadership Academy has the 6C's running through as a golden thread. It is within these 6 C's all nursing professionals aim to move and have their being.
Of all the 6C's, Compassion and Courage, in my opinion, has been tested the most in this pandemic and has prevailed. Both junior and senior nursing professionals have had to dig deep into their wells of Compassion and Courage. Both vital in enabling nurses to deliver world-class care to patients on any other typical day, never mind a "pandemic".
Nursing professionals need "Courage" to do what they do, day in and day out and a high-level competency at that.
With so many definitions of courage floating around from Ernest Hemingways 1926 description as "grace under pressure" to Shelps 1984 definition as "the disposition to voluntarily act, perhaps fearfully, in a dangerous circumstance", my preferred definition of courage is given by the Cambridge dictionary as the ability to control ones fear in the face of a dangerous or difficult situation.
“Grace under pressure ”
In her book "Dare to Lead", Brene Browne says "acts of courage are impossible without first putting yourself in a vulnerable position" and "vulnerability is the emotion that accompanies risk and uncertainty".
With the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic all-round, from lack of adequate and appropriate PPE to capacity concerns to get the job done, undoubtedly, nursing professionals have felt vulnerable and just turning up for work has been a courageous act for many. Digging deep, pushing fear aside and placing patients first before themselves, with or without PPE.
In the face of so much courage from a nursing professional workforce, who have made us all very proud to clap hands for them at our doorsteps on a Thursday night, we must all be courageous to speak up on behalf of our heroic nurses. They deserve fairer pay and a good bonus which is the cherry on top.