I was in a meeting last week and it felt like last year. Literally. The group of nurses was sitting around our committee table discussing an issue with how nursing research gets tracked and disseminated. We had the exact same conversation a few months ago. And last summer. And the winter before that. And so on and so on…

So much so that I left the meeting room, went to my office, and pulled my committee folder. Upon my return, I interrupted the conversation (oops) and said, referring to my notes, “Here is the definition that we came up with last year.”

This is all too typical in nursing practice. We discuss the problems ad nauseam, wasting time that could be used finding solutions. A concept I learned in coaching called Appreciative Inquiry that could be quite applicable here.

[Tweet “Use this process to help your nursing team find and follow through with solutions.”]

• Discover. Appreciate what gives life. What is the best that could be? Identify and appreciate what works well in your nursing practice today. Focus on the positive aspects of nursing practice, whatever those may be in there here-and-now.
• Dream. Envision what could work in the nursing future. Suspending all disbelief, what would the ideal nursing practice look like. What is the best situation that you would want in your nursing career?
• Design. Brainstorm opportunities. Discuss potential avenues for progress. Begin to craft how your nursing team will move forward to the ideal nurse practice setting. Co-construct with the flow of creation.
• Deliver. Empower your nursing group to create the destiny you dream of. Initiate and implement potential plans. Improvise to bring the nursing team success.

This process may look, sound and feel very different than what we as nurses are used to. Historically we have relied on a problem solving approach to fix our challenges. This model of appreciative inquiry requires us to create the ideal vision and move ourselves forward with positive progress.

Has anyone used the appreciative inquiry process in their nursing practice? How does forward thinking help your nursing career? I would love to hear from you; feel free to leave a comment below.