Wallis a. & kennedy k.i. (2013) Journal of Nursing Management 21, 624–632 Leadership training to improve nurse retention Aim This paper discusses findings from an evaluation of a training programme designed to promote collaborative, team-based approaches to improve nurse retention within health care organizations. Background A year-long leadership training programme was designed and implemented to develop effective teams that could address retention challenges in a diverse set of organizations in Colorado ranging from public, private to non-profit. Evaluation An evaluation, based on a combination of participant observation, group interviews, and the use of standardized tests measuring individual emotional intelligence and team dynamics was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the training programme. Key issues What role do the emotional intelligence of individual members and organizational culture play in team effectiveness? Conclusions Out of five teams participating in the training programme, two performed exceptionally well, one experienced moderate success and two encountered significant problems. Team dynamics were significantly affected by the emotional intelligence of key members holding supervisory positions and by the existing culture and structure of the participating organizations. Implications for nursing management Team approaches to retention hold promise but require careful development and are most likely to work where organizations have a collaborative problem-solving environment.

Implementation of employer sun safety actions was assessed in a 2-year follow-up to an occupational sun protection policy intervention. Two-year follow-up assessment in a randomized pretest–posttest controlled design. Local government organizations with workers in public safety, public works, and parks and recreation. Sixty-three local government organizations (participation = 64%) and 330 frontline supervisors and 1454 workers. Sun Safe Workplaces (SSW) intervention promoting occupational sun safety policy and education. Observations of SSW messages and sun safety items and surveys on organizations’ communication and actions on sun safety. Comparison between SSW and control groups was conducted using regression models and adjusted for clustering where appropriate, with α criterion set at P = .05 (2-tailed). At intervention worksites, more SSW messages (P < .001) and sun safety items (P = .025) were observed; more frontline supervisors reported organizations provided free/reduced price sunscreen (P = .005) and communicated about sun safety (P < .001); and more workers recalled receiving sun safety messages (P < .001) and sun safety training (P <.001) compared to control organizations. Implementation was greater at larger than smaller intervention organizations for wide-brimmed hats (P = .009), long work pants (P = .017), and shade structures (P = .036). Older workers received the most written messages (P = .015). Sun Safe Workplaces appeared to produce actions by organizations to support employee sun safety. Large organizations may have processes, communication channels, and slack resources to achieve more implementation.

Context: Outdoor workers are especially susceptible to skin cancer—the most common, but also one of the most preventable, forms of cancer. Colorado, the location of the study, has the second highest rate of skin cancer deaths in the nation. Objective: Local government managers in Colorado—in municipalities, counties, and special districts—were surveyed to ascertain the extent to which they engage in formal (written) and informal practices to protect their outdoor workers against excessive exposure to sun. Design: The survey consisted of 51 questions assessing awareness of formal or informal practices for sun protection of outdoor workers. An index of practices—the study's dependent variable—was created that was composed or practices such as providing employees free or reduced-cost sunscreen, wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses, long-sleeved work shirts, long work pants, and temporary or permanent outdoor shade shelters. Proscriptive policies, such as restricting the use of broad brimmed hats, were subtracted from the index. Surveys were completed by 825 administrators representing 98 jurisdictions. Responses from administrators in the same jurisdiction were averaged. Results: More than 40% of responding jurisdictions indicated that they engaged in informal sun safety practices. Tests conducted to determine what variables might account for the adoption of these sun protection practices found that the degree to which a community could be regarded as cosmopolite and as having an individualistic political culture were significant predictors. Type of government was also significant. Although, higher community income was a significant predictor, neither local government budget nor size was significant. Conclusions: The adoption of sun safe practices bears low costs with potentially high returns. Findings from this study suggest that awareness campaigns might most effectively target cosmopolite communities, but that the greatest impact might be achieved by targeting localite communities. Government size and budget do not appear to be constraints in the adoption of sun safe practices.