Nurse Staff Meeting Template Overview

Nurse staff meetings are an opportunity to update a nursing team, provide guidance, and gather feedback from each member of the team. Often, a nurse staff meeting has to be fast to allow professionals to get back on the floor. That is why having an organized nursing staff meeting agenda template is critical. It works to help keep the entire meeting on task and on time.

The nurse staff meeting provides for two-way communication. It is a time for the nursing team and leadership to discuss what is happening. What is going well? What needs to change? It is also important to introduce any type of hospital or medical center leadership changes, policy updates, regulation concerns, and opportunities for improvement. The nurse staffing meeting may offer a variety of points to discuss or have a single topic that everyone within the group will discuss.

How to Run an Effective Nurse Staff Meeting

Effective nurse staffing meetings require concise and clear communication. This is an opportunity to talk about the good and the bad and discuss what important the work nurses are doing is accomplishing.

Mary Griffin Strom, MSN, RN, stated in HealthStream, “Patient care providers at the point of care delivery want to discuss what it takes to come to work every day and give what is needed to make a difference in patients’ lives, not just in their clinical outcomes, but also in their quality of life outcomes. They want to know that what they do every day has made a difference for someone, and it would be really nice to know that someone in a leadership position knows it and cares enough to provide time and space for dialogue about what really matters.”

Following a nursing staff meeting agenda template creates an opportunity to touch on all of these and other important subjects that care providers need to be kept up on not just once but on an ongoing basis.

What’s inside this Nurse Staff Meeting Template:

1 Welcome

Greeting and initial remarks before jumping into the content of the meeting.

Welcome staff members into the meeting. Provide an introduction about who should be in the meeting. Take a roll call if necessary. Encourage all individuals in attendance to openly communicate and set some rules for the meeting, such as not speaking over each other and being patient with each member. Be sure to thank each person in attendance for making the appointment, thanking them for valuing this open form of communication.

2 Review of previous staff meeting minutes

What did we discuss in the last staff meeting?

Take time to cover all meeting minutes from previous meetings. Discuss any nursing staff meeting topics that carry over from the previous meeting. Discuss the results of the previous meeting to refresh all in attendance about accomplishments, decisions, and follow-up of the results of that meeting.

Outline the nurses meeting agenda. Make it a point to hold meetings even if they were put on hold, thanks to the pandemic. Shelly Maffia, MSN, MBA, RN, NHA, QCP, and CHC, writes the following through AAPACN.org, “Meetings obviously are a primary source of communication, so having strong clinical meeting processes in place is critical.”

3 Review hazards or incidents report

What hazards or incidents were previously reported that should be reviewed?

Distribute copies of or go over the hazards and incident reports from the prior week or month, depending on when last covered. Discuss, in detail, what occurred and what went wrong. Talk about what could have been done to prevent these outcomes. Work to ensure each person in the meeting recognizes the risks of such incidents and what they can do within their role to minimize this from occurring again. Refrain from pointing fingers and instead focus on a team approach.

4 Upcoming training requirements

What upcoming training will be required amongst staff?

Within the nursing staff meeting topics, outline any training requirements needed. Discuss what is available as well, including what types of training programs are available in the coming weeks. Talk about specific areas of concern or focus for the team, especially based on their floor assignments or the type of nursing work they do. Be sure any nursing member that needs training requirements completed understands their requirements and how to fulfill them.

5 Current safety issues

Are there any current safety issues that should be discussed?

Cover any safety issues obvious or occurring within the nursing staff and other departments. Ensure this is a two-way level of communication where nurses feel they can discuss any areas of concern they are having. Discuss safety issues that leadership has noticed, why it is occurring, and what the proper procedures are. Eliminate the risk that any person does not know what should be done instead.

6 Other business

What haven’t we talked about that we need to talk about?

Cover any safety issues obvious or occurring within the nursing staff and other departments. Ensure this is a two-way level of communication where nurses feel they can discuss any areas of concern they are having. Discuss safety issues that leadership has noticed, why it is occurring, and what the proper procedures are. Eliminate the risk that any person does not know what should be done instead.